The Music and Hymnody 

OF 

The Methodist Hymnal 





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Book_jllPi_ 
Gopightl^" 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 




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The Music and Hymnody 



OF 



The Methodist Hymnal 



BY 

CARL F. PRICE 




NEW YORK: EATON & MAINS 
CINCINNATI: JENNINGS & GRAHAM 






Copyright, 1911 by 
EATON «fe MAINS 



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CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface 7 

Introduction 9 



Part I. The Hymnal 

I. The Genealogy of the Methodist Hymnal 15 

IL The Making of the Hymnal 30 

III. The Completed Hymnal of 1905 42 

Part II. The Hymns 

rV. The Story of the Hymns 59 

V. The Hynm-Writers 95 

VI. The Theology of the Hymns 129 

VII. The Literary Beauties of the Hymns 144 

Part III. The Tunes 

Vni. The Story of the Times and their Composers 169 

IX. The Titles of the Tunes 203 

X. Descriptive Music 217 

XI. The Formal Elements of the Music 233 

Part IV. Practical Uses of the Hymnal 

XII. How to Use the Hymnal 247 

Appendix 283 

Index 287 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

Charles Wesley Frontispiece 

FACING PAGE 

Title-page of John Wesley's First Hymn Book 15 " 

Specimen Page of John Wesley's First Hymn Book 16 

Autograph Letter from Cardinal Newman 66 

Autograph Copy of Dr. William F. Warren's Hymn, "I ^ 

Worship Thee, O Holy Ghost." 109 



PREFACE 

To present a dictionary of hynmology, or even to 
collect critical notes upon all of the seven hundred 
hymns in the Methodist Hymnal, is not the purpose 
of this little book: for it would be impossible to do 
this adequately within the limits of space imposed 
upon our study; and, besides, the more detailed 
treatment of the hymns (though not of the tunes) 
has already been ably presented by other hym- 
nologists of the Church. But as there has often 
been expressed the need of a brief introduction to 
the Hymnal, its history, its hynms and tunes, its 
theology, its musical and literary beauties, together 
with helpful suggestions to pastors and prayer- 
meeting leaders — in a word, a practical guide to 
the Hymnal — this has, therefore, been attempted by 
the author. Whatever imperfections may mar the 
work, it is the devout hope of the author that this 
study may be of some service to the Master's cause 
in stimulating a deeper interest in the meaning and 
use of the hymns and tunes. 

Hymn-stories are told herein, some of them drawn 
from the common reservoirs of hynmology, a few re- 
cited in these pages for the first time, but for the 
purpose more of suggesting typical conditions under 
which hymns are written or sung or quoted, than 
of explaining particular hymns. 

We beg the indulgence of the Gentle Reader if the 

7 



8 PREFACE 

discussion become somewhat technical in a few 
passages, such as those addressed especially to the 
versifier, or the musical theorist, or the professional 
hymnal editor; for each of these classes may find 
in the Hymnal much material especially worthy of 
their study. 

Our acknowledgments are due to many friends, 
who have given to us valuable assistance; to the 
sainted Bishop Goodsell, Chairman of the Hjntnnal 
Commission, who during winter evenings, most de- 
lightful and precious in memory, explained to the 
author many of the beauties of the Hymnal; to 
Professor C. T. Winchester and to Professor Karl P. 
Harrington for the story of the preparation of the 
Hymnal; to Mr. Frederick Schlieder for criticism on 
the musical sections of the book; to Dr. Charles M. 
Stuart and Dr. W. F. Tillett, editors of the Hymnal, 
and to Professor Peter C. Lutkin for helpful letters; 
to Mr. Dewitt Miller, the owner of the Cardinal 
Newman manuscript, for permission to use it as an 
illustration; to Mr. A. S. Newman, whose remark- 
able hjonnological library has been of great assist- 
ance; to the Methodist Historical Library, where 
helpful material was placed at our disposal; and to 
those composers and hymn-writers, whose stories are 
told for the first time in these pages. The Christian 
Advocate and the Epworth Herald we also thank for 
permission to reprint articles upon hymnology by 
the author, which first appeared in those periodicals. 

Carl F. Price. 

New York City, June 1, 1911. 



INTRODUCTION 

In the presence of music the meditative soul 
contemplates a mystery. Music wields powers em- 
ployed by no other art; for the musical art alone 
can stir the emotions without depicting objects or 
episodes such as the representative arts demand as 
a vehicle for expression. Music speaks directly to 
the heart. It is the language of the emotions. And 
perhaps it is because God sometimes speaks directly 
to the heart of man that the poets have called 
music "the Divine Art." But all art is in a sense 
sacred, and perhaps Carlyle best describes the at- 
tributes of music when he declares: 

"Music is a kind of inarticulate, unfathomable 
speech, which leads us to the edge of the infinite 
and impels us for a moment to gaze into it." 

Whether or not music possesses a divine quality 
unshared by the other arts, music has become the 
most helpful of all the arts in the worship of the 
Divine Father. Said Michael Prsetorius: "Music, in 
the opinion of many, ranks second only to faith and 
religion." And said Chateaubriand: "Music is the 
child of prayer, the companion of religion." With 
what reverence music was esteemed in the Protes- 
tant Reformation may be understood from these 
words of Martin Luther: 

"Next to theology I give to music the highest 
place and honor. 

9 



10 INTRODUCTION 

*TV[usic is the art of the prophets — the only art that 
can calm the agitations of the soul : it is one of the most 
magnificent and delightful presents God has given us." 

In quite another sense hymn-writing may be re- 
garded as a Divine Art, since its theme is divinity 
itself — since its noblest forms demand nothing short 
of the highest art. The h3min of praise is almost as 
ancient as divine worship. Each successive age has 
employed the hymn for an expression of the most 
intense spiritual emotion. Moses, the law-giver and 
God-inspired leader of his people, crowned his won- 
derful career of achievement with a hymn of praise 
to Him, who made possible all of Israel's victories. 
David, the shepherd, the harpist, the great execu- 
tive and king, the brilliant military general, gave 
vent to the titanic emotions of his spirit in the most 
wonderful body of hymns ever written — the Psalms. 
The Virgin Mary, to whom the angel had whispered 
the sweetest secret since the world began, pro- 
claimed the exalted joy of her soul in the Magnificat. 
The stories of these and other ancient Hebrew 
hymns are but counterparts of the stories of modern 
hymns; for out of life have been wrought the best 
hymns, out of sorrow and soul-conquest, out of joy 
and revelation. And it is the element of the human 
soul needs, common to all ages, com.mon to all con- 
ditions of men, and the all-sufficiency of God to 
meet every last, deepest need of the soul, that has 
enabled a hundred generations of men to appro- 
priate these ancient hymns as their own expression 
of faith and worship. 



INTRODUCTION II 

Thus the greatest hymns come to be used by all 
ages. The psahns of Israel's camp-fires and the 
hymn of the Apostles at the Last Supper blend in 
thought and emotion with the hymns of these later 
centuries in one grand Hymn of the Race to 

"Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer and Friend/' 

When these two divine arts are united — music and 
hymn-writing — each divine in its own peculiar sense, 
worship finds its noblest expression, prayer its most 
beautiful form, and praise its loftiest utterance. In 
view of the peculiarly sacred office of the singing of 
hymns, it were sacrilege to employ them either with 
flippancy or indifference. Indeed, to meditate de- 
voutly upon the hymms and their music, to study 
their meaning and message, and to comprehend the 
purpose of hymn-singing is to intensify one's rev- 
erence for music and hjimiody. 

Melancthon, once passing along the street at 
AVeimar with his friends in banishment, heard a 
little girl singing in clear, sweet tones the great 
hymn of their beloved leader, Luther: 

'^A mighty fortress is our God," 

and at once he exclaimed, ''Sing on, little maid; for 
you little know what hearts you are comforting." 
The Church of God knows not what hearts are being 
cheered, what faith is being stimulated, what souls 
are being saved by the singing of the sacred hymns 
of the ages. Those to whom hymn-singing becomes 
merely perfunctory are apt to forget what a potent 



12 INTRODUCTION 

influence hjmins exert upon life, and the motives 
that control human action. That life which ex- 
presses itself only in hymn-singing is to be despised. 
But the life that seeks nobility of achievement often 
finds its most helpful inspiration in Christian hynms, 
that sing their truths into the heart of mankind 
and reecho the divine love-songs of the Eternal 
Lover of the Soul. 



PART I 

THE HYMNAL 



13 



COLLECTION 

OF 

PSALMS 

AND 

HYMNS. 



^^^ 
«> 



CHJRLES'TOf^N, 
Primed by Lawu Timothy. 1737. 



Title-page of John Wesley's First Hymn Book, said 
to be not only the First Hymn Book published 
in America, but "the First Hymn Book com- 
piled for use in the Church of England" 



CHAPTER I 

THE GENEALOGY OF THE METHODIST HYMNAL 

Early Wesleyan Hymnals — Successive Hymnals of the 

Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist 

Episcopal Church, South 

In the light of subsequent ecclesiastical events, it is 
of peculiar significance to American Methodists that 
the first hymnal ever published for use in the Church 
of England was prepared by John Wesley in 1736, and 
was first printed in 1737 in Charlestown, Gfeorgia. 
John Wesley was then a foreign missionary from Eng- 
land to the distant shores of Georgia. Two striking 
characteristics of his wonderful career were early dis- 
played in the making of that hymnal; his high hym- 
nodic interest and ability, and his remarkable capacity 
for work, in that he was able to add to the exacting 
duties of an active foreign missionary the preparation 
of a pioneer h5nim book. 

Only two copies of this hymnal are now known to 
exist. Julian's ''Dictionary of Hymnology'' errs in 
stating that but one copy is known, and that it is in 
England; for a copy is now in possession of the Public 
Library in New York City. This copy, in a good 
state of preservation, bears upon the title-page the 
legend: ''A Collection of Psalms and Hymns, Charles- 
Town, Printed by Lewis Timothy, 1737." The editor- 
ship and authorship of the threescore and ten hymns 
are not disclosed, though hymnology has clearly 

15 



16 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

demonstrated this to be Wesley's collection. The 
first forty hymns are for use on Sunday, the next 
twenty on Wednesday or Friday, the rest on Saturday. 

Not until 1760 was the next important h5niinal of 
the Church of England prepared (by M. Madan), com- 
posed chiefly of the hymns of Wesley and Watts. 
During that time Methodism as an active, successful 
propaganda had become established, though not yet 
as a separate organized Church; and everywhere the 
Wesleyan doctrines were being taught effectively 
through hymns, as well as through the preaching of 
the Word. Charles Wesley published over fifty books 
and pamphlets of hymns during his hymnodic career. 

The particular collection, to which all subsequent 
Wesleyan Methodist hymnals trace their genealogy, 
that golden book of Wesley's, that has exerted the 
largest influence upon Methodism everywhere, was 
the famous Wesley collection of 1780. This book, as we 
shall see in another chapter, was retained practically 
intact by the Wesleyan Methodists as a nucleus for 
their successive hymnals in the nineteenth century, 
forming the middle one of three parts, into which the 
collection naturally divided itself. In the present 
Wesleyan Hymnal its architecture is still to be traced. 

One of the most popular Methodist hymnals of the 
latter part of the eighteenth century in England, 
though unauthorized by the Wesleys, was the famous 
"Pocket Hymn Book," compiled, edited, and pub- 
lished by Robert Spence, of York, about 1784. Start- 
ing out as a coachman, Spence had come under the 
influence of Methodist preaching, and not only became 



P S A L M S and H Y M T^ S 
tor Sunday. 

I. 
Pfalm XXXIir. 

1 "XT'E holy Souls, in God rcjoic?, 

JL Your Maker's Praife becomes your Voice: 
Great is your Theme, your Song's be ucn' 
Sing of bij Name, his Word, his Ways, 
His Works of Kamre and of Grace, 
How wife and holy, juft and tree ! 

2 Juftice and Truth he, ever loves. 

And the whole Earth hii Goodncf^ proves ; 

His Word ihe heavenly Arches fprcad : 
How wide they (hine frora North to South J 
And by the Spirit of his Mou:h 

Were all the Starry Armies made. 

3 Thou gathercii the wide- flowing Sc2s ; 
Thofc watry Trcaf.ircs know their Place 

In the vaft Store- houfc of the Deep ; 
He rpake, and g2/e all Nature 3irth , 
And Fires and Seas at'.d Heaven aod Eartb 

His cverJafting Orders keep- 

4 Let Mortals tremble and adore 
A GOD of foch rcTiflTefj Power, 

Nor dare indulge their fecWe Rsgc : 
Vain arc your Thoughts end weak your Hands, 
Bm hit eternal Counfcl ftands. 

And ruies the World from Age tc h^r:. . 

A 1 IL- 



Specimen Page of John Wesley's First Hymn Book 



GENEALOGY OF METHODIST HYMNAL 17 

converted, but also started on a new business career 
that developed him into a prominent publisher. John 
Wesley severely criticized this "bookseller of York" 
for using so many of the Wesley hymns from the 1780 
hymnal without permission. Nevertheless, the book 
continued to gain wider acceptance. 

That same year, 1784, in America, there assembled 
the famous Christmas Conference in Baltimore, from 
which the Methodist Episcopal Church dates its formal 
existence. Bishop Coke, who was appointed by 
Wesley to the Methodists in America, was an intimate 
friend of Robert Spence; and it is not surprising, 
therefore, that the first hymnal introduced into 
America after the organization of the new Chiu-ch was 
a reprint of the York "Pocket Hymn Book" of Robert 
Spence. Its title both in England and in America was 
the same: "A Pocket Hymn Book, Designed as a 
Constant Companion for the Pious. Collected from 
Various Authors." Its size also was the same, the 
covers being five and one half by three and one half 
inches, and the pages being four and one half by two 
and one half. 

The Preface to the American edition states among 
other paragraphs: "We intend to strike off an im- 
pression of twenty or thirty thousand copies, that 
the general cry from congregations that they cannot 
purchase Hymn Books will be stopped. The Hynm 
Books which have been already published among us 
are truly excellent. The select Hymns, the double 
collection of Hymns and Psalms, .... and the Re- 
demption Hynrns display great spirituality, as well as 



18 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

purity of diction. The large Congregational Hynin 
Book is admirable, indeed, but it is too expensive for 
the poor, who have Uttle time and less money. The 
Pocket Hymn Book, lately sent abroad in these States, 
is a most valuable performance for those who are deeply 
spiritual, but is better suited to the European Meth- 
odists. . . . All the excellencies of the former publica- 
tions are, in a great measure, centered in the present, 
which contains the choicest and most precious of the 
Hymns that are to be found in the former editions; 
and at the same time is so portable that you may 
always carry it with you without the least incon- 
venience. '^ 

An early suggestion of the benevolent arrangement 
that has prevailed throughout the history of the 
Methodist Episcopal publishing house, of devoting the 
profits of the Concern to philanthropy, is seen in this 
paragraph of the Preface : ^'We are the more delighted 
with this design, as no personal advantage is concerned 
but the public good alone. For, after the necessary 
expenses of printing and binding are discharged, we 
shall make it a noble charity, by applying the profits 
arising therefrom to the heavy debts of our Churches 
and Colleges. No motive of a sinister nature has 
therefore influenced us in any degree to publish this 
excellent Compilation. It has received the appro- 
bation of the Conferences.'' 

The churches are begged to purchase ''no Hymn 
Books, but what are signed with the names of your 
two Bishops"; and, finally, they are exhorted "to sing 
with the Spirit and with the understanding also : and 



GENEALOGY OF METHODIST HYMNAL 19 

thus may the high praises of God be sent up from East 
to West, from North to South; and we shall be happily 
instrumental in leading the Devotions of Thousands 
and shall rejoice to join you in Time and Eternity. 
We are, Dear Brethren, your faithful Pastors in 
Christ, Thomas Coke, Francis Asbury." This, then, 
was the first official hymnal of the Methodist Epsi copal 
Church. 

The General Conference of 1800 in appointing 
Ezekiel Cooper to be superintendent of the book busi- 
ness of the Church, authorized him to publish books 
or tracts, approved or recommended by the Book 
Committee. The hymnal then in use, not being pro- 
tected by copyright, was being published also by 
another concern. For this and probably other 
reasons a revision was made, and a new hymnal was 
published in 1802, bearing practically the same title- 
page, adding a quotation from Psa. 104. 33, and the 
legend: "Philadelphia, Printed by Solomon W. Con- 
rad, For Ezekiel Cooper, No. 118 North Fourth Street, 
near the Methodist Church." The same Preface, as 
in the preceding hymnal, with slight variations, bears 
the signatures of Thomas Coke, Francis Asbury, and 
Richard Whatcoat. The material of the old book is 
here rearranged and revised, a few hymns added, and 
"the poetical numbers and measurement of some of 
the old hymns improved, that, according to the rules 
of music, they may agree better with the tunes to 
which they are sung. Also, in place of certain words 
and sentiments, others are introduced, which appear 
more proper and harmonious." 



20 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

In 1808 another book was added to the hymnal. 
At the General Conference of this year Ezekiel Cooper 
resigned, after having increased the assets of the Book 
Concern from $4,000 to $45,000; and John Wilson was 
elected his successor as editor and book steward, with 
Daniel Hitt as his assistant. To this Conference 
Daniel Hitt submitted a collection of manuscripts, 
which he had prepared evidently in collaboration with 
Bishop Asbury, as we find such references in Asbury's 
diary as these: "August 2, 1807: I have hastily 
marked above two hundred hymns, taken from the 
congregational hymn book, to add to a new American 
edition, which, I hope, will be as good as any extant. '^ 
"August 30. The hymns for collection occupied my 
mind much.'' "Nov. 3. Both Daniel Hitt and myself 
preached. Nov. 4. We were diligently occupied with 
our projected hymn book. 6. We were engaged with 
our collection of hymns," etc. 

At the same Conference James Evans of New York 
made a proposal "for publishing a music book as a 
standard for the use of the Methodist Churches 
throughout the United States." The Committee of 
Review reported adversely on the tune book, but in 
favor of publishing the manuscripts of Daniel Hitt as a 
separate book boimd together with the old book, ad- 
vising, however, the alteration of some, of the hymns. 
This report was adopted two days later. That this 
revision did not consume much time is evidenced by 
the fact that the new Supplement was copyrighted 
September 28, 1808, joining its destinies with the old 
book, and forming what came to be known as "The 



GENEALOGY OF METHODIST HYMNAL 21 

Double Hymn Book.'' The title of the Supplement 
was ^'A Selection of Hjnnns, from Various Authors, 
Designed as a Supplement to the Methodist Pocket 
Hymn Book, Compiled under the direction of Bishop 
Asbury and Published by Order of the General Con- 
ference." Beneath a quotation from 2 Cor. 3. 16 were 
the words: ' 'First Edition, New York, Published by 
John Wilson and Daniel Hitt, For the Methodist 
Connection in the United States. John C. Totten, 
Printer, 1808." The reason for the change of the 
place of publication from Philadelphia to New York 
was that by vote of the General Conference of 1804 
the Book Concern had been moved from Philadelphia, 
where it had become unwelcome, and of the two cities 
proposed for its new home New York had prevailed by 
a majority of two. 

The old Pocket Hymn Book contained 320 h3nmis, 
the new Supplement 328. The Preface, unsigned in 
the first edition, but signed in some later editions by 
Francis Asbury and William McKendree, makes this 
apology for the Supplement: '^Although we esteem 
our Hymn Book in present use, among the best, yet in 
the great and glorious increase of our Church it has 
been thought defective in size." The Supplement 
passed under the review of a committee from each 
Annual Conference with approbation. It is curious 
to note in the back of the Supplement the advertise- 
ment of some of the publications of the Book Concern. 
The Supplement was also published as a separate 
volume. 

In 1821 a new Hymnal, copyrighted October 30, 



22 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

was "published by N. Bangs and T. Mason for the 
Methodist Episcopal Church. Abraham Paul, Prin- 
ter/' Its title eliminated the phrase "Pocket Hymn 
Book" for the first time: "A Collection of Hymns for 
the Use of the Methodist Episcopal Church, princi- 
pally from the collection of the Rev. John Wesley, 
M.A., late fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford." This 
Hymnal contained 604 hymns, two doxologies, and a 
scriptural index. The preface, containing a few of 
the phrases in previous prefaces, explains the relation 
of this Hymnal to its predecessor: "The greater part 
of the hymns contained in the former selection are re- 
tained in this, and several from Wesley's and Coke's 
collections, not before published in this country, are 
added. The principal alterations which have been 
made consist in restoring those which have been 
altered, as was believed for the worse, to their original 
state, as they came from the poetical pen of the Wes- 
leys, for the following hymns were, except a few which 
have been taken from other authors, composed by 
the Rev. John and Charles Wesley — names that will 
ever be held dear and in high estimation by every 
lover of sacred poetry." 

On February 18, 1836, a fire destroyed the building 
of the Methodist Book Concern on Mulberry Street, 
New York city, with a loss of $250,000. Many of the 
plates of the Methodist publications were totally 
destroyed, including the Hymnal plates. This neces- 
sitated a new edition of the book then in use. Dr. 
Nathan Bangs, the book steward, prepared this new 
edition, adding a new Supplement. 



GENEALOGY OF METHODIST HYMNAL 23 

When in the year 1844 the question of episcopal 
rights and its special relation to slavery had hopelessly 
divided the councils of our Church, and it was deemed 
wise to the Southern Conferences of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church that they should separate and form 
a Church of their own, a plan was proposed whereby 
the separation should be consummated regularly and 
in order. The regularity of the actual division of 
Methodism into two bodies was not recognized by the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, however, until 1876, 
when the bitterness of the lamentable dispute gave 
way to the affectionate interchange of fraternal rela- 
tions between the two great bodies of Methodism in 
America. 

Li May, 1846, the Southern Conferences met in 
Petersburg for the first General Conference of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, mider whose 
authority the forms of the new Church were perfected. 
One question which demanded decision was the 
preparation of a new Hymnal. This was first brought 
before the General Conference on May 5 by a resolution 
signed by William M. Wightman and Thomas 0. Sum- 
mers, which we quote in full, because of its importance 
as the first officially recorded step toward a Hymnal 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South: 

WhereaSy It is highly desirable that various changes and 
improvements should be made in a new edition of the Meth- 
odist Hymn Book, to be published under the authority of this 
General Conference; therefore, 

Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed to prepare 
such a work for publication, as soon as possible, giving in 
every case the name of the author of the hymn, increasing 
the number of common, long, and short meters, by selecting 



24 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

from the authorized Wesleyan Hymn Book, and other ap- 
proved sources, and excluding some of the particular meters, 
which are unsuitable for the ordinary congregational singing, 
introducing into the body of the Hymn Book any valuable 
hymns not to be found in the Supplement, and dispensing 
with the remainder and making such alterations in the method 
and arrangement of the subjects as they may deem ad- 
visable. 

Although the resolution was promptly tabled for the 
time being, it was taken from the table three days 
later and referred to the committee, which barely 
escaped being instructed ^'to report to this Conference 
within six days what particular meter hymns they 
propose to exclude" — an almost impossible task for a 
h5niinal commission in the midst of the excitement 
and work of so constructive a General Conference as 
this was. The following day, May 9, it was voted by 
the Conference that the "Committee on Revision and 
Publication of our Hymn Book be not required to 
report to this Conference, but that they be authorized 
to proceed, as soon as may be," to prepare the Hjnnnal 
and have it published. On May 23, shortly before the 
adjournment was taken, the Bishop appointed as a 
Committee on the Hymn Book, Thomas 0. Summers, 
William M. Wightman, Jefferson Hamilton, White- 
ford Smith, and Augustus B. Longstreet. The H5nTinal 
which they published was in constant use by the 
Church until 1886. Efforts were made from time to 
time to modify or supplant the book. At the General 
Conference of 1858 a resolution and a memorial asking 
for a Tune Book were referred to the Committee on 
Tune Hymn Book, who, with the assent of the General 
Conference, referred it all to the book agent, book 



GENEALOGY OF METHODIST HYMNAL 25 

editor, and Book Committee, with instructions to take 
such steps as were advisable. 

On May 24 of the 1870 General Conference in the 
South the Committee on Books and Periodicals re- 
ported in favor of authorizing the general book agent 
to publish a hymn and tune book, appointing as a 
committee to compile the book Dr. J. M. Bonnell, Dr. 
Thomas 0. Summers (one of the signers of the original 
resolution in 1846), and Dr. W. P. Harrison. This 
book was intended as an abridgment of the official 
Hynmal for use in the poorer churches. On May 13 
it is recorded that Professor Mcintosh (composer of 
one of our hymn tunes) was introduced by the Bishop 
to the Conference, and led the Conference in singing 
"beautiful pieces from the new Hymn and Tune Book, 
published by order of the General Conference of 1870." 
Again on May 24, 1878, the committee reported 
against the publication of a new smaller Hymnal 
because of the possibility of an Ecumenical Methodist 
Hymn Book. A resolution passed, however, the same 
day, allowing the book editor, the Book Committee, 
and one bishop at pleasure to publish a small hymn or 
song book, suited to revival, prayer, and social meet- 
ings. 

In 1886 a new Hymnal was authorized to take the 
place of the old book that had done good service since 
1846. The Committee on Hymn Book reported on 
May 19, referring to a pan-Methodistic Hymnal, but 
begging "to be excused from further consideration of 
the subject in the absence of any definite information 
as to the wishes and purposes of our sister Churches." 



26 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

On May 22, however, their report as adopted author- 
ized the College of Bishops to appoint a committee of 
nine, to be divided into three equal sections, as was 
the Methodist Episcopal Hymnal Committee of 1878. 
This committee was instructed to prepare a Hynmal 
under these rules : No hymn to be excluded without a 
two-thirds vote; no hymn not in the H)niinal to be 
admitted without a two-thirds vote; the numbers in 
the indexes shall refer to the hymns. It was recom- 
mended that those hymns be excluded which are 
rarely or never used in public or social worship, that 
when it can be judiciously done the long hymns be 
abridged, and that none exceed twenty-four lines; that 
particular attention be paid to arrangement and 
classification of hymns according to subjects; that the 
whole number of hymns do not exceed 800. This 
Hymnal, first published in April, 1889, was the book 
which the present Methodist Hymnal supplanted in 
the South. It contained, besides 842 hymns, a 
Supplement of seventy-six sacred songs for use in 
prayer meetings and Sunday schools. 

Two years after the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South, in their 1846 General Conference had ordered a 
new Hymnal, the General Conference of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, meeting in May, 1848, also decided 
upon a revision. The movement was officially started 
by the Rev. Dr. James Floy, who on May 2 moved 
that a committee of seven be appointed to consider the 
revisal of the Hymn Book, and report if they deemed 
improvement necessary. This committee, consisting 
of C. Elliott, chairman, Matthew Simpson, W. Hosmer, 



GENEALOGY OF METHODIST HYMNAL 27 

James Floy, David Patten, G. F. Brown, and Nelson 
Rounds, reported in favor of the revision, which the 
Book Committee in New York had joined the official 
editors in requesting; and the report stipulated that 
the committee of seven be appointed by the General 
Conference, that they submit their work for approval 
to the editors, the Book Committee at New York, and 
the bishops, and that the expenses of revision be de- 
frayed by the book agents. 

One amendment to the report proposed to make a 
majority of the committee "traveling preachers in the 
regular pastoral work,'' and, although it was lost, it 
voiced a feeling still prevalent, that pastors are good 
judges of what the Hymnal should be. 

A nominating committee of seven was appointed on 
May 10, and on May 23 reported the following names 
for the Committee of Revision, who were elected forth- 
with: David Dilley, Philadelphia Conference; J. B. 
Alverson, Genesee Conference; James Floy, New 
York Conference; David Patten, Jr., Providence Con- 
ference; F. Merrick, Ohio Conference; Robert A. 
West, of Brooklyn; David Creamer, Baltimore. This 
Hymnal was in use for three decades — longer than any 
other official Hymnal in the history of the Church. 

No important effort toward another revision was 
made until 1872, and even then the effort failed of 
immediate results; for, while the special committee 
appointed to consider the question, ''Ought the Hynm 
Book of the Methodist Episcopal Church to be re- 
vised?" reported affirmatively, the General Confer- 
ence did not adopt its report. 



28 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

Four years later, 1876, a flood of memorials and 
resolutions forced the question before the General 
Conference with better success. On May 4, J. N. 
Brown successfully presented a resolution that a 
committee of nine be appointed to consider the pro- 
priety of revising our Hymn and Time Books, so as to 
adapt them more perfectly to general use in all our 
churches and congregations. The committee, en- 
larged to twelve, reported on May 19 that a revision 
was "imperatively demanded," and that the General 
Conference authorize the Board of Bishops to appoint 
a committee of fifteen to be divided into three sections 
for convenience, and to meet as a whole after each 
section had completed its assigned work. A two- 
thirds vote was necessary for the admission of new 
hymns, or the exclusion of old hymns from the book. 
The work when completed must needs be submitted to 
the bishops for their approval, and then a time book be 
prepared to fit the Hynm Book. This last proved to 
be a serious embarrassment to the musical editors, as 
they were obliged to rigidly follow the order fixed for 
the hymns, so that some hymns had to be simg to 
tunes in another part of the book. It was expressly 
stipulated that no compensation beyond expenses was 
to be paid to the conmiittee. This was the 1878 book 
which in the North the present Methodist Hymnal 
supplanted. 

A committee of six, the Rev. J. H. Vincent, 
afterward elected to the episcopacy in 1888, the 
Rev. J. S. Chadwick, James M'Gee, A. S. Newman, 
John E. Searles, Jr., and John J. Matthias, was ap- 



GENEALOGY OF METHODIST HYMNAL 29 

pointed by the General Conference of 1884 to make a 
hymnal for the Sunday schools, and the excellent ''Ep- 
worth Hymnal No. 1" was the result. A proposal for 
an interdenominational h5nimal was laid before the 
General Conference of 1892, urging the Church to join 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, the Baptists, 
Presbyterians, and Congregationahsts in preparing a 
book for Sunday schools, young people, prayer meet- 
ings, and revivals; but the resolution came to naught. 
In the General Conference of 1896 several resolutions 
failed of passage looking to the publication of an 
abridged edition of the too large Hymnal then in use. 
But until the movement which resulted in the present 
Methodist Hymnal no effective measures were taken 
to supplant or revise the H5annal of 1878. 



CHAPTER II 

THE MAKING OF THE HYMNAL 

Action of General Conference — First Committee — 

New Joint Commission, North and 

South — Musical Editors 

At the close of the nineteenth century there was a 
strong feeUng that the Methodist Episcopal Church 
was in need of a new Hymnal. The old Hymnal had 
been in use for about a quarter of a century, and while 
it had served the needs of the Church, and had en- 
deared itself to Methodists throughout the country, 
the need for a change was recognized as imperative. 
The first expression given to this sentiment was a 
series of memorials and resolutions brought before the 
General Conference of 1900 from various soiu-ces. The 
result of this movement was Report No. 12 of the 
Committee on Book Concern, adopted on May 29 as 
signed by Hon. Leslie M. Shaw, chairman of the com- 
mittee, then governor of Iowa, and a delegate to the 
General Conference from the Upper Iowa Conference : 

Dear Fathers and Brethren: Your Committee, to 
whom were referred certain memorials relative to a Church 
Hymnal, beg leave to submit the following report: 

Whereas, The present Hymnal contains a large number of 
hymns which are rarely, if ever, used, and are therefore im- 
necessary, and render the book too large and too expensive 
for common use; and. 

Whereas, A large number of our churches, especially in 
small towns and country charges, do not use our Church 
Hymnal at all, but in its place a variety of unofficial, inde- 
pendent song books, and which in many cases are pernicious, 

30 



THE MAKING OF THE HYMNAL 31 

to the damage of the Church spiritually, and of our publishing 
interests financially; 

Therefore, there is hereby authorized the preparation of a 
Hymnal of octavo size, of about six hundred hymns, in which 
there shall be a small percentage of the best modern hymns 
and spiritual songs, and also the ritual and order of service 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the same to be sold at 
the lowest practicable cost. 

Your Committee further recommends that the Board of 
Bishops be authorized to appoint a committee of nine to 
carry out the provisions hereof. 

The committee of nine was appointed by the bishops 
in accordance with the resolution, and a glance at 
their individual records is a convincing evidence that 
the bishops chose wisely the makers of the new Hym- 
nal: 

The Rev. Dr. Samuel F. Upham, the chairman of the 
committee, had been a pastor in the Providence and 
New England Conferences, and in 1881 was elected 
professor of practical theology in Drew Theological 
Seminary. His death occurred on October 5, 1904, 
before the deliberations of the Joint Conmiission were 
completed. 

The Rev. Dr. W. A. Quayle, then pastor of Saint 
James Church, Chicago, and afterward (1908) elected 
bishop, has long been recognized as one of the most 
eloquent preachers in American Methodism, as well as 
a writer of purest literary style. He is one of the very 
few bishops elected to the episcopacy directly from 
the pastorate. 

The Rev. Dr. Charles W. Smith, then editor of the 
Pittsburg Christian Advocate, was elected bishop by 
the General Conference of 1908. He had served many 
pastorates and a presiding eldership in the Pittsburg 



32 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

Conference previous to his election to the editorship, 
in 1884. 

The Rev. Dr. Charles Macauley Stuart was pro- 
fessor of sacred rhetoric in Garrett Biblical Institute 
at the time of the revision, after having served as 
associate editor of the Michigan Christian Advocate 
and the Northwestern Christian Advocate, of which 
he is now the editor. 

The Rev. Dr. Camden M. Cobern, for many years 
a pastor in the Erie, Detroit, Colorado, and Rock 
River Conferences, was elected professor of English 
Bible and philosophy of religion in Allegheny College, 
1906. At the time of the Hymnal revision he was 
pastor of Trinity Church, Denver. 

The Rev. Dr. Richard Joseph Cooke, at that time 
editor of The Methodist Advocate Journal (Chatta- 
nooga, Tenn.), had been active for years as preacher 
and pastor, and as professor of New Testament exege- 
sis and historical theology, and later as vice-chancellor 
and acting president of Grant University. The 
General Conference of 1904 elected him book editor of 
his Church. He has rendered distinguished service 
on the Commissions on the Federation of Episcopal 
Methodism, the Constitution, the Ritual, and the 
Judiciary Committee. 

The Rev. Dr. Charles S. Nutter, then presiding 
elder of the Saint Albans District of the Vermont 
Conference, is well known throughout Methodism as 
the author of ''Hymn Studies," and as one of the fore- 
most hymnologists in America. 

Caleb T. Winchester, L.H.D., author, lecturer, and 



THE MAKING OF THE HYMNAL 33 

since 1873 professor of English literature in Wesleyan 
University, has long been regarded in the literary 
world and among the colleges as a distinguished 
authority upon English literature. 

Matthew V. Simpson, the son of Bishop Simpson, 
was a business man in Philadelphia. 

When the committee held its first meeting in New 
York there existed some doubt as to what the nature 
of the new Hymnal should be, the wording of the 
resolution not being explicit on that important point. 
One party held that the General Conference had 
authorized only a prayer-meeting book, such as the 
Epworth Hymnal of 1884, to be used as an abridged 
form of the general Hymnal. Another party, and 
strongly in the majority, insisted that the proposed 
Hymnal was intended to supplant the Hymnal of 
1878, and should, therefore, be treated as a revision of 
that book. Upon one point all were agreed, and that 
was that the new Hymnal should be much shorter 
than the old, consisting of about five or six hundred 
hymns. 

It was toward a revision of the H3nnnal that the 
committee finally agreed to work, and in their subse- 
quent meetings they had made great progress to this 
end, when suddenly their work was halted. Already 
they had agreed upon a large proportion of the hynms, 
and had formulated the general plan of the book. On 
January 16, 1902, announcement was made that the 
book would be ready for the press in August, and 
printed by December. It might be interesting, if safe, 
to conjecture what manner of Hymnal this first com- 



34 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

mittee would have produced, had their work con- 
tinued without interruption. Probably the book 
would have been much shorter than the Hymnal that 
was finally produced, for their ambition to make a 
book of only a little more than five hundred hymns 
could more easily have been attained had they chosen 
their old hymns from the 1,117 different h3anns in the 
old Methodist Episcopal Hymnal, instead of from two 
Hymnals, North and South, containing nearly 1,700 
different hymns. Then, too, the Hymnal might have 
had fewer of the American evangelistic type of tunes, 
which for many years in the Southern Hymnal and its 
Supplement have been preserved like pressed flowers 
in an old volume, flowers that are now cherished less 
for their fragrance than for the memories which they 
awaken. 

The reason for the discontinuance of the first com- 
mission was the discovery that the same General 
Conference (1900) that had authorized them to pre- 
pare a new Hymnal, had* also authorized "prompt 
steps being taken for the preparation of a common 
Catechism, a common hymn book, and a common 
order of public worship, and that other branches of 
Methodism be invited to cooperate in this under- 
taking" (Report of the Committee on Federation, 
General Conference, 1900). 

In the meantime the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South, was also preparing for a common Hymnal. 
Their General Conference met in Dallas, Texas, in 
May, 1902. Both of the fraternal delegates from the 
North referred in their speeches to the common Hym- 



THE MAKING OF THE HYMNAL 35 

nal. The Rev. Dr. Dewitt C. Huntington said: "We 
read from the same Bible, we are soon to sing from the 
same book of hymns, and teach om* children the same 
Catechism. We agree in many things. We differ in 
few. It would seem that the joint heirs to an in- 
heritance so sacred, fellow workers under the same 
system of Christian doctrine, striving for the same 
goal — a regenerated world — should be drawn into an 
ever-deepening fellowship of labor and love." Lieu- 
tenant-Governor John L. Bates, afterward governor 
of Massachusetts, echoed this sentiment in saying that 
''when steps are taken to prepare a common hymn 
book and a common order of public worship," and 
since other significant events have occurred within 
the quadrennium just closed, "then the day of the 
benefits of a practical union, whether one in name or 
not, is near at hand." 

On May 22, the fourteenth day of the General Con- 
ference, the Rev. Peter H. Whisner, of the Baltimore 
Conference, moved to suspend the rules and to adopt 
Report No. 1 of the Committee on Federation. This 
report breathes the spirit of fraternal regard for the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, reciprocating the cordial 
sentiments of its fraternal delegates, and resolves 
among other things: "That the bishops of our Church 
are authorized to act in concert with the bishops of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church in the work of prepar- 
ing a common Hymnal for public worship, a common 
Catechism, and a common order of worship, and to 
proceed as soon as practicable to appoint the com- 
mittees for the same as agreed upon by the joint com- 



36 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

mission." This report was signed by the Rev. P. H. 
Whisner, chairman, and the Rev. J. P. McFerrin. 

The conflict of legislation in the General Conference 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church was referred to the 
Board of Bishops, and they nullified the appointment 
of the old commission of nine, at once reappointing 
the same nine members to the new joint commission, 
and increasing the representation of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church to eleven by adding Bishop Daniel 
A. Goodsell and the Rev. H. G. Jackson. Subse- 
quently, upon the resignation of M. V. Simpson, J. M. 
Black was appointed in his place. 

Bishop Goodsell (1840-1909), as pastor in the New 
York East Conference from 1859 to 1887, editor of 
two religious weeklies, and secretary of the Board of 
Education, achieved the distinction of being one of 
the most scholarly and brilliant men ever elected to 
the episcopacy. 

The Rev. H. G. Jackson has for years been a 
prominent Chicago pastor. 

Mr. J. M. Black is well known as an editor and com- 
poser of gospel songs. 

Like their brothers from the North, the Southern 
commissioners were chosen for special qualifications 
for the work in hand. Bishop Elijah Embree Hoss, 
D.D., LL.D., formerly president of Martha Washing- 
ton College, and later of Emory and Henry College, 
professor in Vanderbilt University, and editor of the 
Nashville Christian Advocate, was elected Bishop of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in 1902. 

The Rev. Dr. George B. Win ton has achieved a 



THE MAKING OF THE HYMNAL 37 

versatile record as pastor in California, missionary in 
Mexico, professor of Latin in Santa Rosa, and author of 
Spanish and American works. In 1902 he was elected 
editor of the Christian Advocate (Nashville, Tenn.). 

The Rev. Dr. Horace M. DuBose, pastor of several 
churches successively in California, Texas, and Missis- 
sippi, and once editor of the Pacific Methodist Advo- 
cate, was in 1898 elected secretary of the Ep worth 
League and editor of its organ, the Epworth Era. 

The Rev. Dr. Wilbur Fisk Tillett, the hymnologist 
of his Church, and author of many denominational 
and theological works, has been associated with 
Vanderbilt University, of which he became in 1886 
vice-chancellor and dean of the theological faculty. 

The Rev. Dr. Paul Whitehead, now deceased, was a 
presiding elder in the Virginia Conference. 

The Rev. Dr. John Monroe Moore, pastor of various 
churches in Texas and Missouri, has been managing 
editor of the Christian Advocate (Nashville) since 
1906. 

Edwin Mims, Ph.D., author of works on literature, 
and editor since 1905 of the South Atlantic Quarterly, 
is professor of English Literature in Trinity College, 
N. C. 

Henry Nelson Snyder, Lit.D., LL.D., after teaching 
in Vanderbilt University and Wofford College, became 
president of the latter institution in 1902. 

Rev. Dr. F. S. Parker, a member of the Louisiana 
Conference, is secretary of the Epworth League of his 
Church, elected in 1908. 

Rev. Dr. James Campbell, of the North Texas Con- 



38 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

ference, was presiding elder of the Corsicana 
District. 

The Rev. Dr. Robert Thomas Kerlin served as 
professor in Missouri Valley College, Southwestern 
University, and the State Normal School, Warrens- 
burg, Missouri, and is now instructor in English at 
Yale University. 

The two Churches were fortunate in being repre- 
sented by such a remarkable group of men, who com- 
bined an alert scholarship and insight into the needs of 
the Church with a devout sense of the deep spiritual 
importance of their work. Their proceedings recall 
the spirit in which Professor Calvin S. Harrington 
entered upon the work of the Hymnal Commission of 
1876-78. In the words of his biography, as related by 
his wife : ^^He received the appointment as the greatest 
honor the Church had ever conferred upon him. Not 
until after days of prayer and questioning of his fitness 
did he enter tremblingly, but joyfully, upon the im- 
portant work. As the days went on, and the labors 
increased, his enthusiasm grew intense, and absorbed 
every hour that could be spared from his regular 
college duties."* 

Work of such far-reaching influence is not "to be 
entered into unadvisedly, but reverently, discreetly, 
and in the fear of God"; and the commission felt with 
deep earnestness the burden of its responsibility. 
That they must prepare a Hymnal to be acceptable to 
the largest Protestant body in America, to serve the 
Church possibly for three decades, like its predecessors, 

^"Calvin Sears Harrington," by his Wife, Middletown, Connecticut, 1885. 



THE MAKING OF THE HYMNAL 39 

to meet the needs of two separate Churches, to satisfy 
the varied tastes of every section and almost every 
class of people in our land, to give expression to the 
larger vision of truth and the more tender conception 
of God and his ways with men, which the Church had 
gained within a generation, to utter this expression 
without offense to those who still cling to the older 
ideas — this seems to have been the symphony, as 
Channing would have styled it, which the commission 
purposed to construct, composing a harmonious whole 
out of the themes of three hundred saintly singers of 
the Christian ages, and the melodies of nearly as 
many composers. 

With this purpose in view the committee assembled 
for its first meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, in the 
spring of 1903. 

The second meeting was held at Plymouth, Massa- 
chusetts, during the first week in July, 1903. In all 
these sessions a devout spirit of industry pervaded 
the work of the commission, whose brotherly harmony 
was never once broken, and whose final meeting (in 
Washington, D. C, January 14, 1904) was a Pente- 
cost, as Bishop Goodsell reminds us in the Preface. 

This meeting practically completed the work of 
choosing the hymns, though there were still a few 
minor changes to be made. Most of the tunes had 
been selected at the final meeting in Washington. 
Those still not chosen were left to the musical editors 
and the committee on tunes. The minor changes in 
phraseology were left with the Hymnal editors, the 
Rev. Dr. Charles M. Stuart, for the North, and the 



40 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

Rev. Dr. W. F. Tillett for the South, both of whom we 
have already mentioned. The musical editors were 
Professor Karl P. Harrington, of Wesleyan University, 
and Professor Peter C. Lutkin, of Northwestern 
University. 

Professor Harrington is the son of the late Dr. Cal- 
vin Sears Harrington, who for many years occupied 
the chair of Latin at Wesleyan University, now held 
by his son, only one incumbent having intervened be- 
tween father and son. Another pleasing coincidence 
was that Professor Calvin S. Harrington was one of the 
two musical editors of the 1878 Hymnal. Bom in 
1881, Professor Karl P. Harrington since his gradua- 
tion from Wesleyan, 1882, has been a teacher of Latin, 
University of Maine and University of North Carolina 
being two of the colleges he has served. He is well 
known as an organist, musical director, composer, and 
lecturer. 

Professor Lutkin is professor of music in the College 
of Liberal Arts and dean of the School of Music in 
Northwestern University. He was born of Danish 
parents in 1858 at Thompson ville, Wisconsin, near 
Racine, to which he moved while a young child. At 
nine years of age he was a choir boy in the Cathedral of 
Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Chicago, at twelve an as- 
sistant organist there, and at fourteen, now orphaned, 
he was appointed organist of the Cathedral. In 1881 
he went to Europe, where he studied under the great 
masters. He has been on the Northwestern University 
faculty since 1891. 

The injustice of omitting the names of the musical 



THE MAKING OF THE HYMNAL 41 

editors from the first edition of the new Hymnal, as in 
every edition of the 1878 Hymnal, was remedied in 
later editions. 

The musical editors and the Tune Committee met in 
Evanston, Illinois, in the summer of 1904 to complete 
the tunes, but the work was still unfinished. Before 
the next meeting a pamphlet was published with the 
words of several hymns, for which the editors invited 
new music. The results were discussed by correspond- 
ence, and final decision was made in the last meet- 
ing hi Boston, in the spring of 1905. The general 
editors and musical editors unite in especially com- 
mending the work of Professor C. T. Winchester in 
selecting tunes for the hymns, in addition to the 
regular work assigned him on the commission. 



CHAPTER III 

THE COMPLETED HYMNAL OF 1905 

The Book and Its Characteristics — Comparison with 
Other Hymnals — Some Superlatives 

Thus, after years of preparation, the Methodist 
Hymnal was presented to the Church in September, 
1905. It was pubUshed simultaneously in uniform 
editions by the publishing agents of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, Eaton & Mains, and Jennings 
& Graham; and also of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South, Smith & Lamar. The book ap- 
peared in two forms, the music edition and the word 
edition. The former was printed in octavo size, from 
Gilson music plates made in Boston, the hymns being in 
8-point type, the Psalter in 10-point type. The word 
edition was printed in 16mo size, both hymns and 
Psalter being in 10-point type. These editions were 
presented in various cloth and leather bindings, bear- 
ing on the back and on the cover the legend in gilt 
letters, 'The Methodist Hymnal." The most beauti- 
ful copy of the Hymnal, printed on Oxford India paper 
and bound in red seal-skin, was presented by Bishop 
Goodsell, on behalf of the Hymnal Commission, to 
President Theodore Roosevelt, who acknowledged 
the favor in pleasing terms. 

Between the covers of the Hjminal and spread upon 
the table of its pages, there lies a sumptuous feast of 
hymns and music, gathered from the fields of many 

42 



THE COMPLETED HYMNAL OF 1905 43 

lands and many ages, meat and drink for the nourish- 
ment of the spiritual life, stimulation for sin-sick 
souls, and refreshment for weary workers. 

As soon as the book was published widespread com- 
ment upon so important a Hymnal was at once begun. 
Much of this was in the form of strong commendation. 
The higher standards, literary and musical, upon 
which the Commission proceeded, were indorsed, as 
well as their taste in matters theological. But from 
some quarters the comment assumed the tone of ad- 
verse criticism, futile as such criticism must be, in 
view of the fact that Methodist hynmals are usually 
revised only once in a generation. 

Some of the comments upon the Hymnal illustrated 
the dangers of irresponsible criticism on church affairs. 
Many of those who have criticized the book have done 
so without having acquired any intelligent or intimate 
familiarity with its contents. At the close of a Sun- 
day morning's service in New England, soon after the 
Hymnal was published, a critic assailed one of the 
makers of the Hymnal, declaring that he disliked the 
new Hymnal. When pressed for a reason the only one 
that he could give was that Fanny Crosby's hymns 
were left out of the book. The reply was simple, and 
revealed the ignorance of the critic. The new Hym- 
nal contains five of her hymns, whereas there were 
none in the old Methodist Episcopal Hymnal. Still 
others have centered their criticism upon minor im- 
perfections of the book, made necessary in some re- 
spects by the very nature of the book as a compromise. 
They would carelessly condemn the book without 



44 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

really understanding its value. A few hours of earnest 
study would reveal to them treasure-wonders of which 
they had scarcely ever dreamed. 

We would not be understood as imputing ignorance 
to every critic, or to everyone who feels that the 
Hymnal has not perfectly represented his own tastes. 
In fact, every member of the Hymnal Commission 
could probably be included in the latter class, and the 
writer and perhaps the reader of these lines. The diffi- 
culty is that each tends to criticize from an entirely dif- 
ferent angle. The great Methodist Churches, forming 
the largest Protestant body in America, must satisfy in 
their forms of worship entirely opposite needs and 
divergent tastes. When it is remembered that this 
Hymnal must be used by East and West, South and 
North, rich and poor, the erudite and the less educated, 
in the metropolis and in the hamlet, it must be re- 
garded as wonderful in its adaptability to Methodism 
at large. 

One of the most frequent criticisms is that the book 
contains much more English music and not so much 
American music as the previous books; and this 
complaint is urged against the book chiefly by the 
purveyors of modern gospel music. The indictment 
is true. The contemporary school of English tune- 
makers has exerted a predominating influence in the 
new music of this Hymnal; but so they have also in 
the hymnals of most other denominations, both in 
England and in America, and their elevating influence 
upon church music is constantly rising throughout 
Protestantism, like an irresistible tide. On the other 



THE COMPLETED HYMNAL OF 1905 45 

hand, one frequently hears complaints that too many 
gospel times are included in the book. But, when it is 
considered how few they really are, after all, this 
criticism seems over-rigorous. To deny entirely the 
value of the gospel hymns would be to confess one's 
unfamiliarity with the history of Methodism. It is 
true that the average musical standard of the Hymnal 
is somewhat lowered by this class of music. But 
surely its place in our social worship is sufficiently 
important to justify including some of the best of these 
tunes in the Hymnal. The fact still remains that the 
collection contains hundreds of the very best hymn 
tunes in existence, and these criticisms are made only 
upon a smaller part of the whole. 

Another favorite diversion of the critic — and in this 
field his name is legion — is to complain that some old 
familiar hymn has been set to a different tune from 
the one to which it was formerly sung. In some in- 
stances this point is well taken, but in other cases it is 
influenced largely by the personal equation of the 
critic. It would be difficult to get a company of such 
critics to agree as to which are the old familiar tunes 
that should have been kept in the book. Doubtless 
the editors had reason for every divorce of a hymn 
from its tune. Had not such reasons been applied to 
successive revisions, we would still be singing some of 
the impossible tunes of the earlier days. We would 
not be suiting the needs of modem worship to the 
higher tastes of later generations. From the personal 
standpoint, however, it is hard to dissociate a h3aim 
from the tune to which we have sung it since child- 



46 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

hood; and it is not surprising that each successive 
revision has provoked this comment. 

In spite of these criticisms the Methodist Hymnal 
remains as a great collection of the great hymns and 
tunes of the Church, and as such it is worthy of the 
loyal appreciation of the Church at large. There are 
but few members of any General Conference that are 
entirely satisfied with every clause of the Discipline. 
But they cheerfully and loyally accept it as the ulti- 
mate result of many forces, some of them contending 
in opposite directions, but all of them together pro- 
ducing a higher wisdom; and under the new Dis- 
cipline they loyally return to their various fields 
of labor for another quadrennium of work. Like- 
wise, the Hymnal should be adopted by every 
Methodist society as the only authorized hymnody 
and music for our Church. 

Perhaps the most exact method of reaching a just 
estimate of the Hymnal is to compare it with other 
American hymnals in the same field. In the first 
place, comparing it with its predecessors in both 
North and South, the Hymnal is distinctly an ad- 
vance in musical, literary, and theological standards. 
Nor could the Church expect anything other than an 
advance in all of these respects. Besides, by the 
arrangement of the material, it marks a decided im- 
provement over the former books. 

Just how far the editors have culled their material 
from the old Hymnals of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 
may be seen from the following statistics: 



THE COMPLETED HYMNAL OF 1905 47 

In the new Hyumal there are 717 hymns (exclusive 
of the doxologies, chants, and occasional pieces). 
They are set to 773 tunes, 216 being duplicates and 
557 being different tunes. Of these 773 tunes, 

198 in the old Methodist Episcopal Hymnal were sung 
to the same words as in the new. 
140 in the old Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 
Hynmal were sung to the same words as in 
the new. 
105 are tunes from the old Methodist Episcopal Hyiimal, 

set to old words, to which other tunes were used 
in the old book. 
132 are tunes from the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South, Hymnal, set to old words, to which other 
tunes were used in the old book. 
45 are tunes from the old Methodist Episcopal Hymnal, 

to which new hymns have been set. 
46 are tunes from the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South, Hymnal, to which new hymns have been 
set. 
213 are tunes not in the old Methodist Episcopal 

Hynmal, but are set to hynms that were in the 
old book. 
190 are not in the old Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South, Hymnal, but are set to hynms that were 
in the old book. 
212 are tunes not in the old Methodist Episcopal Hymnal 

and are set to words not in the old book. 
265 are tunes not in Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 
Hynmal, and are set to words not in the old 
book. 



773 773 



In each of the old Hymnals there were only seven 
hymns set to more than one tune ; but the new Hym- 
nal contains two tunes for each of fifty-five hymns, be- 
sides three tunes for each of the two hymns, J. G. Hol- 
land's 'There's a song in the air" and Charles Wesley's 
''Jesus, Lover of my soul." 



48 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

In the old Methodist Episcopal Hymnal there were 
483 tunes (79 being duplicates, leaving 404 different 
tunes), to which 1,117 hymns were set. In the old 
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, Hymnal there 
were 696 tunes (239 being duplicates, leaving 457 
different tunes), to which 918 hymns were set. The 
new Hymnal has decreased the number of hymns (by 
just 400 from the Methodist Episcopal Hjminal, by 201 
from the Hymnal of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
South), and has increased the nimiber of different 
tunes (by 153 over the Methodist Episcopal Hymnal, 
by 100 over the Hymnal of the South). 

In only one instance in the new Hymnal, namely, 
the two hymns to the tune "America," are two adja- 
cent hymns set to the same tune, although nearly half of 
the hymns in the Hymnal of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South, and more than half of those in the 
Methodist Episcopal Hymnal were adjacent to some 
other hymn set to the same tune. Frequently in both 
of the old books the words were placed on a page 
opposite the tune. This does not occur in the new 
Hymnal. Nor is the congregation in singing any 
hymn obliged to turn over to some other part of the 
Hymnal for the music of that hjnnn, as was true of fifty- 
two hymns in the old Methodist Episcopal Hymnal, 
but of only one hymn in the Hymnal of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church, South. In a word, each tune 
is printed with its hymn, and each hynm with its 
time. This has made it possible in every instance 
(save in "America," cited above) to insert the first 
verse of each hymn between the clefs of the music, to 



THE COMPLETED HYMNAL OF 1905 49 

which it is to be sung — a distinct gain in this Hymnal 
over its predecessors. 

Comparing the Methodist Hynrnal with other 
American hymnals, no one would claim for this Hym- 
nal that it excels all others in the high standard of its 
music. Undoubtedly other hymnals, especially those 
of the Protestant Episcopal Church, as the Hutchins, 
Parker, or Tucker hymnals, maintain throughout 
a higher average of music. As we have already 
observed, the musical average has been somewhat 
lowered by admitting a small number of hymn tunes 
especially adaptable to evangelistic work. But as 
most of our tunes coincide with those in the best 
hymnals, and as many of our new tunes are of a high 
order, the musical difference is not great. What is 
best in the best hymnals is to be found in our own, to 
which has been added a certain desirable adaptability 
to our own needs, entirely lacking in the other 
hymnals. 

There is no question that in theology our Methodist 
doctrinal teachings are better set forth in the Method- 
ist Hymnal than in any other American hymnal. In 
fact, one of the great dangers to our system of religious 
education lies in the fact that so many unauthorized 
hymnals are used in the Church that either teach that 
which we do not regard as Methodist belief, or else 
portray the Christian life in false colors by means of 
weak, sentimental phrasing of little literary and less 
theological value. 

The Methodist Hymnal has found a peer in the 
excellent book of our Methodist brethren in England, 



50 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

known as 'The Methodist Hymn Book.'' To this 
book, more than to any other in existence, our Hymnal 
bears a close relation in the fact that both have been 
historically derived from the original collection of the 
Wesleys, and in the possibility that eventually both 
may be merged into one pan-Methodistic hynmal. 

The centripetal force, that is more and more uniting 
all denominations throughout Protestantism, has 
made itself felt throughout the several branches of 
Methodism. The Ecumenical Methodist Conference, 
first convened in London, September, 1881, has been 
the best expression of this Wesleyan unity. At the 
third Ecumenical Conference, held in London, Septem- 
ber, 1901, a resolution was presented authorizing one 
common hynmal for international Methodism. This 
is a step in advance of the Church of England and the 
Protestant Episcopal Church, which use entirely dif- 
ferent hymnals. The idea has strongly appealed 
to Methodists on both sides of the sea; and in view of 
the possibility in the future of an international hymnal 
we feel justified in quoting from the report on the pro- 
posed resolution, adopted on September 9, 1901 : 

The Business Committee regards the suggestion of the 
resolution with sympathy and trusts that at some future day 
it will be realized; but, having regard to the fact, first, that 
several Churches in the Eastern section have recently pub- 
lished new hymn books, and thereby incurred great financial 
responsibilities; secondly, that arrangements for the publica- 
tion of a new hymnal by the Methodist Episcopal Church are 
in an advanced stage; thirdly, that the Wesleyan Methodist 
Church has decided to publish a new hymn book, which it is 
hoped will also be adopted by the Irish New Connection, 
Wesleyan Reform Union, and Australian Methodist Churches, 
and having regard to the legal and financial difficulties in- 



THE COMPLETED HYMNAL OF 1905 51 

volved in the proposal, the committee is of the opinion that 
the proposal contained in the resolution is not at present 
practicable. 

Whether or not the time will ever come when we 
shall be constrained to join hands across the sea in 
making one hymnal for all English-speaking Method- 
ists, it is of interest for us to know what manner of 
hymn book is used by British Methodism. 

'The Methodist Hymn Book with Tunes" is the 
official title of the book. The title-page bears the 
statement that the music has been edited by Sir 
Frederick Bridge, M.V.O., Mus.Doc, King Edward 
Professor, University of London, and for years organ- 
ist of Westminster Abbey. His works are much 
studied in this country by students of harmony, and 
he is regarded as one of the foremost musical scholars 
in Great Britain. Twenty-nine hymn tunes in his 
book attest his ability as a composer in this simple 
form. 

The Preface contains the genealogy of the English 
Methodist Hymnal. The last Wesleyan Hymn Book 
with Supplement had been issued in 1875, and two 
years later a tune book was published to conform to 
this hymn book. This was ''the first official tune book 
in the history of British Methodist psalmody, in which 
hymns and times were printed together on the same 
page," says the Preface to the present edition. 

The Wesleyan Conference of 1900 appointed a com- 
mittee to cooperate with other British Methodist 
bodies in preparing a new hymn book, "to cover the 
whole ground of our Wesleyan Methodist worship. 



52 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

doctrine, and experience, and that the substance of 
Wesley's original hymn book, with certain modifica- 
cations, would find its fitting place in the central por- 
tion of the book, which deals with the offer of the 
gospel and the history of Christian experience." In 
1901 a new committee, including laymen, was ap- 
pointed, who carried the work through to a successful 
completion in 1904, and presented to the Wesleyan 
Methodist Church, the Methodist New Connection, the 
Wesleyan Reform Union, and the Methodist Church of 
Australasia, a common Methodist Hymn Book, uniting 
them for the first time through the same songs of the 
religious life. 

This English Hjnnn Book contains 981 hjnims, set to 
893 different tunes, besides ten ancient hymns and 
canticles with several musical settings for each, and 
thirty-nine supplemental tunes in the Appendix, 
commonly known as ''old Methodist tunes." Many of 
the tunes are not confined to one page. Sir Arthur 
Sullivan^s magnificent anthem setting of Croft's ''St. 
Anne" covers four pages, and his "Lux in Tenebris" 
two and a half pages, the music for each separate verse 
being printed in full. For the first tune of "Dies 
Irae" an ancient plain-song melody is used, covering 
six pages ; to which is added a second tune of a page 
and a half. Thus upon perusing the book, one is im- 
pressed with its ample provisions, filling almost double 
the number of pages of our own Hymnal, exclusive of 
the Psalter. 

The Wesleyan Church makes use of a much larger 
body of the Wesley h5mfins than has the American 



THE COMPLETED HYMNAL OF 1905 53 

Church. Of the three hundred hymns omitted from 
the old book in England about one hundred were 
Wesley's; and still one half of the new Hymn Book 
consists of hymns by Charles Wesley (437) and John 
Wesley (29), much over three times the number of 
Wesley hymns used in America. This has been true 
because John Wesley's own society in his own land 
is privileged to gaze more intimately into his devout 
face and 

In those clear, piteous, piercing eyes behold 
The very soul that over England flamed.^ 

For generations his England has taken pride in pre- 
serving almost intact the book of the two Wesleys. 
Even when the omission of some of the Wesley hymns 
seemed necessary, the Wesleyan committee proceeded 
upon the principle that before a Wesley hymn be ex- 
cluded they must have a good reason for its exclusion, 
rather than insisting upon a good reason for retaining 
it, thus placing the burden of proof upon the plaintiff. 
To the half hundred Wesley hymns thus retained, and 
about two hundred other hymns, also endeared to the 
Wesleyan Church, have been added a fine body of 
nearly three hundred hymns, only one of which had 
never been published before in any book. 

These hymns have been arranged in much the same 
order of subjects as fixed by Wesley. The center of 
the book contains the body of Wesley hymns, preceded 
by hymns of adoration, and followed by hymns for 
children, sacrament, and festivals, national and 
philanthropic. Dr. Stephenson has commented upon 

,' "John Wesley," by Richard Watson Gilder. 



54 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

this in his sketchy critique of the hymn book, and has 
pointed out that the lack of worship-hymns by Wesley 
is rooted in the fact that the Anglican Church had 
turned out the Methodists from the formal places of 
worship.^ 

There are many differences in the text of the same 
hymns, as used in England and America, due to 
alterations from the original made by both Churches, 
but more especially by the Americans. Our hjnnn, 
"Weep not for a brbther deceased," they have retained 
in its original form, ''Rejoice for a brother deceased," 
to which our Joint Hymnal Commission, after hours of 
debate, nearly changed our hymn. Some verses of 
the same hymn are often used by one Church, and not 
by the other. Our hymn, 'There's a wideness in 
God's mercy," begins thus in the Wesleyan Hymn 
Book: "Was there ever kindest shepherd." Many 
such examples of these differences, caused by altera- 
tion and omission, could be cited, were it within our 
province. 

These hymns have been set to a splendid collection 
of tunes, one half of them being new to the Wesleyan 
Church, but only a few of them never having been 
published before. The Conference instructed the 
committee to select the tunes in the first instance, and 
then submit them to the editor "for criticism or 
alterative suggestion," retaining, however, the final 
authority within the committee. The committee 
professes to have observed the canon that the tunes 
must be such as the people can and will sing. The 

1 See Dr. T. B. Stephenson's article in Christian Advocate. July 14, 1904. 



THE COMPLETED HYMNAL OF 1905 65 

editor expressed his ideal thus: '^1 would like this 
tune book to be the finest in the world'' ; and from the 
musical standpoint he has approached this ideal. 

To our comparison of the Methodist Hymnal with 
other hymnals there remain to be stated briefly the 
superlatives; for in some points at least our American 
Methodist collection is unique. In the first place, on 
the mechanical side, the mammoth edition of 576,000 
in which the Methodist Hymnal made its first appear- 
ance in 1905 was the largest first edition of any mer- 
chantable book ever issued in America. 

It is the first official hymnal adopted by the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South. 

Since the Methodists form the largest Protestant 
body in America, and the Roman Catholics do not gen- 
erally use congregational singing in their worship, the 
Methodist Hymnal has been adopted for more millions 
of members than any other official hymnal in America, 
and probably in the world. 

Of all hymnals in use it is undoubtedly the best 
suited to the theological beliefs of American Method- 
ism in this age. 

Musically, it surpasses all of its predecessors, and is 
the most adaptable to our nation-wide needs of all the 
high-standard hymnals now in use. 



PART II 

THE HYMNS 



57 



CHAPTER IV 

THE STORY OF THE HYMNS 

Experiences which Led to the Writing of the Hymns — 
Experiences in the Use of the Hymns 

Every hymn has a spmtual background in the 
personal experience of its author. As all literature is 
an expression of life, even so true hymns are the ex- 
pression of an individual spiritual life, though their 
sentiments be adapted to universal Christian experi- 
ence. It is not given to us to know the inner conflicts, 
the secret strivings of the soul, or the peculiar joys of 
each h5nnn-writer, that may have inspired the writing 
of our great hymns. Many a line, that is sung coldly 
or thoughtlessly, has been poured into poetic form from 
the molten metal of the soul's furnace. Of the real 
story of most of our hymns we shall never know until 
the final day when all secrets are revealed. 

A few of the sacred poets, however, have taken us 
into their confidence as to the writing of their hymns, 
while of the lives of still others we know sufficient to 
determine the state of mind which produced their 
hymns. It is impossible within the compass of a few 
pages to relate more than a few of the many stories 
that have clustered about these seven hundred hymns. 
Therefore, those which are here presented have been 
chosen chiefly to illustrate different types of experience 
which have stirred men to hymnodic expression. 

The conversion of a soul from sin to righteousness 
59 



60 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

has inspired the writing of many a strong evangelistic 
hymn. The supreme joy of the new birth and the 
ecstasy of freedom from sin have been frequently 
caught up into song from the deepest emotions of the 
poet's soul. Joseph Hart, the author of ''Come, ye 
sinners, poor and needy," had fallen away from a godly 
life. His sin was made more hideous to him because 
of the memory of the lost experience of Christian joy 
and peace. The very tortures of his conscience kept 
him from returning to the throne of grace, until, finally 
contemplating the sufferings of Christ, he yielded his 
life anew and for all time to the Saviour. With the 
joy of a returned prodigal he wrote : 

Let not conscience make you linger, 

Nor of fitness fondly dream; 
All the fitness he requireth 

Is to feel your need of him, 

and another verse also clearly referring to himself: 

Come, ye weary, heavy-laden. 
Bruised and mangled by the fall; 

If you tarry till you're better. 
You will never come at all. 

Henry Kirke White, who at the age of eighteen 
wrote, ''When, marshaled on the nightly plain,'' and 
died within two years afterward, might have re- 
mained a skeptic until his death but for an intimate 
friend, R. W. Almond, later rector of Saint Peter's, 
Nottingham. After Almond became a Christian he 
shunned White as a dangerous companion, and when 
White complained of his studied absence Almond told 
him the reason. With horror and resentment White 



THE STOKY OF THE HYMNS 61 

replied, "Great God! you surely think worse of me 
than I deserve!" But into the blackness of that 
experience and his consequent conviction of sin there 
shone the Star of Bethlehem, and in this hymn the 
youthful poet sings of the Star as his guide through 
raging seas, where 

Deep horror then my vitals froze, 
Death-struck, I ceased the tide to stem, 

until at last the ship of his soul was "safely moored, 
my perils o'er." 

Charles Wesley, many of whose hymns were directly 
autobiographical, was at his best in singing of the work 
of redemption as he had felt it. Immediately after his 
conversion in 1738 he wrote the hymn beginning: 

And can it be that I should gain 
An interest in my Saviour's blood? 

In one verse he sums up the whole wonderful story: 

Long my imprisoned spirit lay, 
Fast bound in sin and nature's night; 

Thine eye diffused a quickening ray, 
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light: 

My chains fell off, my heart was free, 
I rose, went forth, and followed thee. 

This is thought to be the hymn mentioned by John 
Wesley in telling of his own conversion at ten o'clock 
in the evening, after which they went to Charles's 
room in Little Britain, where "we sung the hymn with 
great joy, and parted with prayer." 

Charles Wesley had a fondness for observing anni- 
versaries in a devout fashion. He always wrote a 
hymn upon his birthday. And so it is not strange 



62 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

that one of his greatest hymns was written upon the 
first anniversary of his conversion, May 21, 1739. 
These words, beginning ^'0 for a thousand tongues to 
sing," have become so endeared to all Methodists that 
they have formed the first hymn in all the important 
Methodist hymnals in Great Britain and America. 
The very first phrase is said to have been suggested by 
the remark of Peter Bohler to Wesley in praise of 
Christ, "Had I a thousand tongues, I would praise Him 
with them all!'' The line, '''Tis life and health and 
peace," is suggestive of Wesley's serious sickness 
mentioned in his own account of his conversion in the 
home of one Thomas Bray: '^I was composing myself 
to sleep and quietness and peace, when I heard one 
come and say, Tn the name of Jesus of Nazareth, arise 
and believe, and thou shalt be healed of all thine in- 
firmities !' The words struck me to the heart. I lay 
musing and trembling. With a strange palpitation of 
heart, I said, yet feared to say, 'I believe, I believe!'" 
When at last he won the consciousness of sins for- 
given, he prayed, and then read from the Bible this 
passage: "He hath put a new song in my mouth," 
which sentiment is echoed in the line, "'Tis music in 
the sinner's ears." Then, as the flood of memory of 
this great day sweeps over him on its first anniversary, 
he exclaims: 

He breaks the power of canceled sin, 

He sets the prisoner free; 
His blood can make the foulest clean; 

His blood availed for me. 

Count Nicolaus L. Zinzendorf. the Moravian 
preacher, is said to have been converted through 



THE STORY OF THE HYMNS 63 

beholding and meditating upon the famous painting, 
"Ecce Homo/' in the Dusseldorf Gallery, portraying 
Christ's bowed head crowned with thorns. Something 
of his intense vision of Christ's sufferings is caught in 
John Wesley's translation of Zinzendorf's hymn be- 
ginning: "Jesus, thy blood and righteousness" (148). 
Its relation to his own salvation the author sings in our 
fourth verse : 

Lord, I believe thy precious blood 

For me, e'en for my soul was shed. 

The fact that this hymn was written upon a voyage 

from the West Indies to England early in the year 

1739 makes more interesting his references to the 

ocean in the last verse : 

. were simiers more 
Than sands upon the ocean's shore, 
Thou hast for all a ransom paid. 

The joy of seeing a whole houseful of friends con-^ 
verted in answer to her prayer, while on a little visit of 
five days to Areley House, led Frances Ridley Haver- 
gal to write (348) : 

Take my life, and let it be 
Consecrated, Lord, to thee. 

Of this she said : "The last night of my visit I was 
too happy to sleep, and passed most of the night in 
praise and renewal of my own consecration, and these 
little couplets formed themselves and chimed in my 
heart, one after another, till they finished with, 'Ever, 
only, all for thee.' "^ Her method of work she once 

* From ** Frances Ridley Havergal," by the Rev. E. Davies, p. 61 and p. 40. 



64 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

described thus: "Writing is praying with me, for I 
never seem to write even a verse by myself, and feel 
like a little child writing: you know a child would look 
up at every sentence and say, ^And what shall I say 
next?' " 

Similarly, Mrs. Elizabeth Codner, hearing of many 
wonderful conversions through a revival in Ireland, 
wrote in 1860: "Lord, I hear of showers of blessing," 
in order that her unconverted friends, to whom she 
sent the verses, might utter as their own prayer, 
"Even me, even me!" 

In contrast to the joy of the soul's conversion, now 
and then is heard a note of anxiety, lest the paths of 
sin lure the soul away from God. The Rev. Robert 
Robinson's "Come, thou Fount of every blessing" con- 
tains a passage which, in the light of his later life, 
speaks eloquently of his conflict of soul : 

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, 
Prone to leave the God I love. 

Years after he wrote this, when he had drifted into 
frivolous ways, a stranger once quoted the verses to 
him; and full of emotion he replied: "I am the un- 
happy man who composed that hymn, many years 
ago, and I would give a thousand worlds, if I had 
them, to enjoy the feelings I then had." 

"Lead, kindly Light, amid th' encircling gloom," is 
a prayer for divine guidance in the midst of the gloom 
of spiritual perplexity. Whether or not it was written 
on a ship becalmed for a foggy week in the Straits of 
Bonifacio, between Corsica and Sardinia, as some have 



THE STORY OF THE HYMNS 66 

told us, surely and eloquently it reveals the author^s 
hesitant, beclouded state of mind and spirit at this 
period of his life. A minister of the Church of Eng- 
land, Dr. John H. Newman, had become anxious 
because of the spiritual indifference in his own 
Church. In his recent visit to the Continent, and 
more especially in Rome, from which he was now 
returning, he had felt more strongly than ever before 
the lure of Romanism, which, finally, a decade later, 
led him to enter the Roman Catholic Church, and 
still later to become cardinal in 1879. "The night 
is dark, and I am far from home" expresses his 
spiritual imrest, if not homesickness for old England. 
'^One step enough for me" was the guiding principle 
of his progress during those dark years. The whole 
second verse is biographical in regretting that 
willfulness which he confesses in other verse written 
earlier upon this visit to the Continent : 

Time was I shrank from what was right, 
For fear of what was wrong. 



Such dread of sin was indolence, 
Such aim at heaven was pride. 



So, when my Saviour calls, I rise, 
And calmly do my best. 

But through it all there shines the faith of the great 
soul that "thy power," the guide of wandering souls, 
"will lead me on" till "the night is gone." Cardinal 
Newman denied the authorship of the fourth verse of 



66 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

"Lead, kindly Light/' sometimes attributed to him. 
The accompanying illustration reproduces this denial 
in his own handwriting, although it is uttered in the 
third person. 

The intensity of spiritual emotion that impelled 
Cardinal Newman to write this wonderful hymn we 
can scarcely begin to imderstand. Dr. Ray Palmer 
says of the writing of his hymn, ''My faith looks up to 
thee": ''I gave form to what I felt by writing with 
little effort the stanzas. I recollect I wrote them with 
very tender emotion, and ended the last line with 
tears." Fanny Crosby thus relates the story of writ- 
ing one of her hymns : "While I sa^t there that evening 
the line came to me, 'Rescue the perishing, care for the 
dying.' I could think of nothing else that night. 
When I arrived at my home I went to work at once, 
and before I retired the entire hjonn was ready for a 
melody." 

The chastening, humbling influences of illness bring 

the truly consecrated soul nearer to God. Miss 

Katherine Hankey had passed through a severe illness 

of many months, and was still in helpless weakness, 

when she wrote, "Tell me the old, old story." Thus 

from the heart she exclaims : 

For I am weak and weary, 
And helpless and defiled. 

How naturally the convalescent's mind dwells upon 

That wonderful Redemption, 
God's remedy for sin. 

The hymn, "Father, whate'er of earthly bliss," was 
written by Miss Anna Steele during an illness. The 



I 

Autograph letter from Cardinal Newman, disclaiming his author- 
ship of the fourth stanza of " Lead, Kindly Light" 



THE STORY OF THE HYMKS 67 

poem, entitled ''Desiring Resignation and Thankful- 
ness/' originally began thus: 

When I survey life's varied scene 
Amid the darkest hours. 

It is the Christian sufferer who is singing in the lines : 

Give me a calm, a thankful heart, 
From every murmur free. 

The words and music of "Tell it out among the 
nations" were written by Miss Frances Ridley Haver- 
gal in Wales during a severe illness, as she was listening 
to the church bells calling to service. The theme was 
suggested by a phrase she had just read in her Prayer 
Book, "Tell it out among the heathen that the Lord is 
King.'' From her own weariness that Sabbath morn- 
ing she sang, "Tell it out among the weary ones what 
rest he gives." 

Something of the inspiration through sympathy 
with sickness and its hallowing influences may be 
gleaned from Richard Baxter's quaint note to his 
hymn, "Lord, it belongs not to my care;" for he added 
this line : "This Covenant my dear Wife in her former 
Sickness subscribed with a chearful will. Job 12. 26." 

The sense of the certainty of approaching death 
arouses no terrors in the heart of the Christian, who 
yearns for the homeland. The Rev. Thomas R. 
Taylor was warned of the disease that must soon 
claim his life. But, undaunted by the prospect, he 
wrote that hymn of heaven : 



I'm but a stranger here, 
Heaven is my home. 



68 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

One line, ''Short is my pilgrimage/' was all too 
prophetic, for he died at the age of twenty-seven. 
But so heroic was his fight in the Master's cause during 
those last months in the valley of the shadow of death 
that James Montgomery was thereby inspired to write 
our hymn, ''Servant of God, well done." 

Charles Wesley wrote, "Who are these arrayed in 
white?" as a eulogy upon his parents shortly after 
their death. 

Under mortal shadow was written the great hymn 
for the dying Christian, "Abide with me," by the Rev. 
Henry Francis Lyte, minister to Brixham, Devonshire, 
England. The disease of consumption had over- 
taken him past the half -century milestone of his active 
life, and the doctors had insisted that he leave for 
Italy. On his last Sabbath in his old parish, Septem- 
ber 5, 1847, against the protest of his friends, he 
preached and administered the sacrament of the 
Lord's Supper. The effort nearly exhausted him, 
but after resting in the afternoon he was able to walk 
at twilight all alone by the sea. Here on this walk 
the thoughts of his coming departure from England 
and probably from human life came thronging upon 
his mind, and in that hour of hallowed devotion he 
conceived the hymn : 

Abide with me! Fast falls the eventide, 
The darkness deepens — Lord, with me abide! 
When other helpers fail, and comforts flee, 
Help of the helpless, abide with me! 

The verses, "Swift to its close ebbs out life's little 
day," and "Hold thou thy cross before my closing 



THE STORY OF THE HYMNS 69 

eyes," reveal his sense of impending death; but with 
what courage and faith it was blended is proven in the 
lines : 

Where is death's sting? where, grave, thy victory? 
I triumph still, if thou abide with me. 

The next day he started for the Riviera, which he 
never reached, for in less than eleven weeks he died in 
Nice, November 20, 1847. 

The last poem of Charles Wesley's was composed 
and uttered upon his deathbed. Being ^'in feebleness 
extreme," he called to Mrs. Wesley and asked to write 
down these lines, which he dictated: 

In age and feebleness extreme, 
Who shall a sinful worm redeem? 
Jesus, my only hope thou art. 
Strength of my failing flesh and heart; 
O, could I catch a smile from thee, 
And drop into eternity! 

A hymn that has comforted many a soul at the 
threshold of heaven is ^'One sweetly solemn thought," 
about which Miss Phoebe Gary, who wrote it, once said : 
"I composed it in the little back third-story bedroom, 
one Sunday morning, after coming from Church." 
The hallowed thoughts of the sanctuary were woven 
into the noble poem. 

Thus we have considered a few of the hymns that 
have voiced intense spiritual experiences, largely in- 
duced by subjective causes. Frequently, however, 
some external cause, some critical event, some calam- 
ity has revealed to the poet an undreamed vision of 
divine truth; and with a new sense of his relation to 



70 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

God he has poured forth his heart in the Uving lines of 
an exalted hymn. 

The calamity of blindness in banishing physical 
light from the afflicted has often opened to the soul 
new flood-gates of spiritual light. ''Come, my soul! 
in sacred lays" was written by a blind man, the Rev. 
Thomas Blacklock. It is not strange that his con- 
ception of heaven was of a place of ineffable, eternal 
light, as we see in the second verse (23) : 

Enthroned amid the radiant spheres, 
He glory like a garment wears; 
To form a robe of light divine, 
Ten thousand suns around him shine. 

In the hymns of Fanny Crosby, the aged blind singer, 
is expressed this same pathetic yearning for light. In 
one hymn she prays: ''Lead me through the vale of 
shadows" (332); in another (490): 

Till my soul is lost in love 

In a brighter, brighter world above. 

In "Blessed Assurance" (548) she sings of 

. . . perfect dehght! 
Visions of rapture burst on my sight. 

Likewise the blind English clergyman, William W. 
Walford, sang of the vision of his heavenly home (516) : 

. . . Sweet hour of prayer, 
May I thy consolation share, 
Till from Mount Pisgah's lofty height, 
/ view my home. . . . 

The story is told, though not without question, 
that the great scholar and preacher, George Matheson, 
was at one time betrothed to marry a young woman, 



THE STORY OF THE HYMNS 71 

when the physicians one day told him that his long- 
fought disease of the eyes must soon result in total 
blindness. In a spirit of love and frankness he told 
her of his impending sorrow, of his great love for her, 
but of his willingness to release her from her promise, 
if she so desired. Her decision to break the engage- 
ment only intensified his sorrow, and might have 
driven him to despair, had he not cast himself upon the 
love of Christ, and found the divine relief which he so 
pathetically expresses in his h3mm : 

Love that wilt not let me go, 
I rest my weary soul in thee; 

1 give thee back the life I owe, 
That in thine ocean depths its flow 

May richer, fuller be. 

O Light that foUowest all my way, 

I yield my flickering torch to thee; 
My heart restores its borrowed ray, 
That in thy sunshine's blaze its day 
May brighter, fairer be. 

Of the writing of this hymn Matheson said: ''I was 
sitting alone in my study in a state of great mental de- 
pression caused by a real calamity. My hymn was the 
voice of my depression. It was not made for utili- 
tarian purposes; it was wrung out spontaneously 
from the heart. All the other verses I have written 
are manufactured articles; this came like a dayspring 
from on high." 

A grief similar to George Matheson's was suffered by 
Joseph Scriven, whose betrothed was drowned shortly 
before the day fixed for their wedding. The intense 
sorrow, into which his joy was so suddenly changed, 



72 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

only drove him closer to the Divine Friend; for he 

wrote: 

What a friend we have in Jesus, 
All our sins and griefs to bear! 

So universally true and helpful is the sentiment of 

this hymn that it has been printed nearly ten million 

times. 

The hardship of imprisonment in the Convent of 

Saint Marie, Paris, 1686, in Vincennes, 1695, and in 

the Bastille, 1698-1702, was imposed upon Madame 

Jeanne Marie Bouviers de la Mothe Guyon, because of 

her religious beliefs. Nor was this hardship any less, 

since her child had died, her own beauty had been 

blighted by smallpox, her mother-in-law had turned 

against her, and severest criticism had been passed 

upon her creeds by many theological leaders. In 

what spirit this leader of the Quietist movement and 

friend of Fenelon bore her tribulations we may know 

from her lines : 

My Lord, how full of sweet content 
I pass my years of banishment! 

Helen Maria Williams was a resident in Paris when 
the Bastille fell in 1789, and she was imprisoned in the 
Temple as a foreign suspect until the death of Robes- 
pierre. Her reliance upon divine help during these 
days of anxiety is expressed in her hymn, "While 
thee I seek, protecting Power.'' It was immediately 
after all of Isaac Watts's property had been destroyed 
by fire that he wrote, "Come, sound his praise abroad." 
In the line, "We are his works and not our own," he 
acknowledges that all that we are and have belongs to 



THE STOKY OF THE HYMNS 73 

God. Such Christian philosophy makes our material 
losses seem trivial. 

To a sensitive soul the misunderstanding of noble 
motives brings a keenness of pain, rarely suspected by 
the accusers. Every evening at twilight Mrs. Phoebe 
Hinsdale Brown stole away from her four children to a 
grove near by for prayer and meditation, because in 
their poverty they were living in an unfinished house 
in Ellington, Connecticut, with a sick sister in the only 
finished room. To the gossipers, who for this daily 
absence persecuted her with false accusations, she re- 
plied in the lines, 

I love to steal awhile away 
From little ones and care, 

which, modified, and shortened, has become our 
hymn (498). 

The virulent opposition that the Wesleys met in 
preaching anew the doctrines of regeneration by faith 
is hard to understand in this day of free speech. 
Churchmen called them ranting enthusiasts or secret 
Papists. Hardened sinners reviled them. Some- 
times they were stoned by the mob, sometimes ar- 
rested by the authorities. On one occasion a man 
kept interrupting Charles Wesley's sermon with vile 
epithets and mockery. At last Wesley silenced him 
with a scathing denunciation of the man's sin. The 
sermon proceeded, and the divine message won the 
hearts of many in the audience. Upon retiring from 
the meeting Wesley wrote, ''Jesus, the name high over 
all" (222). 

Very different were the emotions of the Rev. Dr. 



74 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

John Fawcett when he produced his most famous 
hymn, ''Blest be the tie that binds." Having re- 
ceived, in 1772, a call to leave his charge in the Bap- 
tist church of Wainsgate to become pastor of a large 
London church, he was about to go when his people, 
broken-hearted, besought him and finally persuaded 
him to remain, though his personal property was all 
ready for shipment. He said to them, "You may 
unpack my goods, and we will live lovingly together 
for the Lord." Thus came to be written the great 
hymn of Christian unity; for he had learned that 
"When we asunder part, it gives us inward pain," 
and henceforth both pastor and people decided to 
"Share our mutual woes. Our mutual burdens bear," 
throughout the rest of life. 

Just as orators have arisen in the might of their 
eloquence to command the thought of some great 
occasion, even so our sacred poets in their purpose to 
stir the emotions and direct the thought of some great 
religious gathering, have sometimes produced hymns 
that have outlived the occasions for which they were 
written — occasions that are now remembered only 
because of their hymns. 

Such a hymn is the Christmas song, "Hail to the 
Lord's anointed," written by James Montgomery 
for a gathering of the British Moravians on Christmas 
Day, 1821. "Jesus, where'er thy people meet," was 
written by Cowper upon the occasion of the removal 
of the prayer meeting at Olney to another building. 
"Lord, while for all mankind we pray," was composed 
in 1837 as an English national anthem by the Rev. 



THE STORY OF THE HYMNS 76 

John R. Wreford at the time of Queen Victoria's 
coronation. Dr. John James Bonar, of Saint Andrew's 
Free Church, Greenock, was accustomed to print a 
httle memorandum for each communion service in his 
church. For one of these he asked his brother, Dr. 
Horatius Bonar, to write a hymn; and for this coming 
Sabbath was written, in two days, the hynm for the 
Lord's Supper, '^Here, my Lord, I see thee face to 
face." 'Thou, whose unmeasured temple stands," 
by WilUam Cullen Bryant, owes its existence to the 
dedication of a chapel on Prince Street, New York, m 
1835. In its original form it began, '^0 Thou, whose 
own vast temple stands." The most popular Ameri- 
can poet of his times was asked to write a hymn of 
dedication for the Hanover Street Church, Boston, and 
the result was the lines beginning, "The perfect world 
by Adam trod," by Nathaniel P. Willis. "Saviour, 
again to thy dear name we raise," by the Rev. John 
Ellerton, was produced in 1866 for the Parochial Choirs 
Festival at Nantwich, Cheshire; and "Forward, be 
our watchword," was written in June, 1871, by Dean 
Henry Alford for the Tenth Festival of Parochial 
Choirs of the Canterbury Diocesan Union. 

Dean Shipley, of Saint Asaph, was about to preach 
a missionary sermon on Whitsunday, 1819, for the 
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign 
Parts. The day before, he asked his son-in-law, 
Reginald Heber, rector of Hodnet, to write "something 
for them to sing in the morning." In a very short time 
he completed the great hymn "From Greenland's icy 
mountains," which was sung the next morning. 



76 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

Dr. Samuel Wolcott's ''Christ for the world we sing" 
also owes its birth to a missionary occasion, though in 
this instance it was written after the meeting, Febru- 
ary 7, 1869, from which the writer was returning alone 
through the streets when these lines came to him. In 
his own words the story is told: 'The Young Men's 
Christian Association of Ohio met in one of our 
churches with their motto in evergreen letters over 
the pulpit, 'Christ for the World and the World for 
Christ.' This suggested the hymn, 'Christ for the 
world we sing.' " 

Similarly, it was immediately after a conference- 
room talk on the twenty-third psalm, and while still 
in the spirit of the occasion, that the Rev. Joseph H. 
Gilmore, in 1861, wrote, "He leadeth me," in the home 
of a friend in Philadelphia, where he was visiting 
while supplying a Baptist pulpit in that city. 

A legend, containing only the three words "Sleeping 
in Jesus," inscribed on a tombstone in the cemetery 
of Pennycross Chapel in Devonshire, led Margaret 
Mackay to write for The Amethyst of Edinburgh the 
beautiful funeral hymn, "Asleep in Jesus." 

The poetic inspirations derived from nature, stirring 
the human soul and suggesting divine truth, have not 
left hymnology wholly uninfluenced. The stars, the 
sea, the earth with its mountains, hills, plains, and 
rivers, its flowers and birds, winter storms and har- 
vests of "full corn," with the "bright blue sky" above 
it — all these are portrayed within our Hymnal, and 
evidence the poets' visions of beauty in nature. We 
are told that Isaac Watts wrote his hymn of heaven, 



HILE STORY OF THE HYMNS Y7 

"There is a land of pure delight," while in South- 
ampton, England, and that his view of the Isle 
of Wight across the River Itchen suggested the 
familiar lines: 

Sweet fields beyond the swelling flood 

Stand dressed in living green; 
So to the Jews old Canaan stood, 

While Jordan rolled between. 

The South of England is pictured in another hymn, 
"Lo! on a narrow neck of land," which Charles Wesley 
is said to have written at Land's End in Cornwall. 
Some have maintained that this hymn was written 
upon a foreign journey, but even so, it must have been 
reminiscent of Land's End, which Wesley had fre- 
quently visited. 

We have already referred to the tradition which 
attributes much of the imagery of ''Lead, kindly 
Light," to the scenes upon a voyage on the Mediter- 
ranean. More trustworthy is the narrative concerning 
Joseph Addison's hymn. Returning from the terrors 
of a voyage on the Mediterranean Sea, he gives us 
from his own recent experiences a picture of the 
Christian traveler's gratitude in his hymn, "How are 
thy servants blest, Lord!" which is embodied in 
his essay on "The Sea," in the Spectator, No. 489, in 
1712. The second verse describes the hardships 
through which he had safely passed: 

In foreign realms, and lands remote, 

Supported by thy care, 
Through burning climes they pass unhurt, 

And breathe in tainted air. 



78 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

Again in a description of the retiring storm he 
says: 

The storm is laid, the winds retire, 

Obedient to thy will; 
The sea, that roars at thy command, 
At thy command is still. 

It was the same vivid memory of travels in Pales- 
tine a few months before that enabled Bishop Phillips 
Brooks to touch our imaginations in his exquisite 
Christmas hymn, so that we almost behold the very 
birthplace of Christ, as we sing : 

little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie! 
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by; 
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light; 
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee to- 
night. 

Dean Arthur P. Stanley^s 

O Master, it is good to be 
High on the mountain here with thee, 

was written after his visit in 1853 to Palestine. 

Of Bishop Ken's ^'Evening Hymn" Theron Brown 

says, "The ^Evening Hymn' drew scenic inspiration, it 

is told, from the lovely view in Horningsham Park at 

^Heaven's Gate Hill,' "^ while the author was walking 

to and from church in the twilight. Still another night 

scene, portrayed in hymn lines, was the night glow in 

the sky from the great fires of the Newcastle Collieries, 

which Charles Wesley was visiting, in order to preach 

to the colliers. , Likening this to the gospel fires, he 

sang: 

See how great a flame aspires. 
Kindled by a spark of grace! 

1 "The Story of the Hymns and Tunes," by Theron Brown and Heiekiah 
Butterworth. 



THE STORY OF THE HYMNS 79 

Jesus' love the nations fires, 

Sets the kingdoms on a blaze: 
To bring fire on earth he came; 

Kindled in some hearts it is : 
O that all might catch the flame, 

All partake the glorious bliss! 

The stone quarry in the Isle of Portland was a great 
industry, peculiar to the town where he was preaching 
at the time, that suggested a hymn to Charles Wesley. 
Before preaching to the quarrymen he wrote : 

Come, thou all victorious Lord, 

Thy power to us make known; 
Strike with the hammer of thy word, 

And break these hearts of stone, 

a figure of speech that must have stirred the imagina- 
tions of the workmen. 

Not all the interesting stories of our hymns center 
about their origin; for with the use of the hymns 
thousands of thrilling memories are associated, recall- 
ing scen^ when the quoting or singing of a h)nnn has 
stirred the deepest emotions of the soul. 

Could the hymns in our Methodist Hymnal recite 
the story of all the deathbeds they have cheered, what 
a wonderful testimony to the faith and fearlessness of 
the dying Christian would be told ! Isaac Watts wrote 
(in hynm No. 581) : 

Jesus can make a dying-bed 
Feel soft as downy pillows are, 

While on his breast I lean my head. 
And breathe my life out sweetly there. 

In many a Christian home where this miracle has 



80 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

been wrought, there are cherished among the tender- 

est memories 

Those sweet, fervent hymns 
Made sacred by how many saints of God, 
Who breathed their souls out on the well-loved tones.* 

The story is sometimes repeated in the writer's 
home of the last words of Great-grandfather Miller, 
whose saintly life was crowned with a triumphant 
death. Surrounded by his sorrowing family, his 
dying request was that they sing his favorite hymn, 
"There is a fountain filled with blood." But so great 
was their grief they could scarcely sing, and when they 
reached the end of the fourth verse, "And shall until I 
die," their voices broke down. Then, gathering up 
what little strength he had left, he sang the last verse 
alone: 

"Then in a nobler, sweeter song, 
I'll sing thy power to save, 

When this poor Hsping, stammering tongue 
Lies silent in the grave." 

And with these words his body fell back, while his soul 
took up the nobler, sweeter song. 

One of the earliest accounts of a hymn being sung 
by a departing Christian relates to the death of the 
Venerable Bede, on May 26, in the year 735. He re- 
quested his sorrowing friends to carry him to that part 
of the room where he had always prayed ; and there 
he sang the Gloria Patri, beginning with feeble voice, 
"Glory be to the Father," and continuing until with 
his last breath he uttered, "world without end." 

Many Methodist saints, who have been canonized 

1 By Richard Watson Gilder. 



THE STORY OF THE HYMNS 81 

at least in the affections of the Church, have expressed 
by some hymn the joy of passing to the larger life. 
John Wesley, the day before he died, sang the first two 
verses of Watts's old hymn: 

I'll praise my Maker while IVe breath, 
And when my voice is lost in death, 
Praise shall employ my nobler powers. 

Bishop Hedding, who died in New York, April 29, 
1852, spoke in his last words of the ineffable joy of 
fifty years of service for the Master. "I want to tell it 
to all the world!" he exclaimed. "0, that I had a 
trumpet voice ! 

'Then would I tell to sinners round 
What a dear Saviour I have found.' " 

Dr. Nathan Bangs in his last ilhiess quoted the 
third verse of our hymn (371) : 

The promised land, from Pisgah's top, 

I now exult to see : 
My hope is full, O glorious hope! 

Of immortality. 

Bishop Matthew Simpson, shortly before his death, 
in 1884, quoted this verse : 

O, would he more of heaven bestow I 

And when the vessels break 
Let our triumphant spirits go 

To grasp the God we seek ; 
In rapturous awe on him to gaze, 

Who bought the sight for me; 
And shout and wonder at his grace. 

To all eternity. 

The last line he repeated over and over again. His 
last audible words were, "Yes! yes! glory be to 
Jesus!'' 



82 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

A most pathetic but appropriate use of an old, 

familiar hymn is the story of the deathbed of the Rev. 

Thomas Stockton. He had fallen into a sleep, which 

his sorrowing friends thought was his last. But just 

before he died, he awakened, looked upon them and 

said: 

"And are we yet alive, 
And see each other's face?" 

Many a statesman or leader in public life, 
humbled to pass through the same way we all 
must tread, has departed this life with hymns of 
faith upon his lips. Thus Cobden died, repeating 
John Wesley's hymn : 

"What though my flesh and heart decay? 
Thee shall I love in endless day!" 

Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's royal consort, in his 
last moments quoted "Rock of Ages," and President 
McKinley uttered lines from ''Nearer, my God, to 
thee," as he was dying; and each of these hymns 
echoed throughout the two brother Anglo-Saxon 
nations. Wordsworth's daughter was comforted at 
the approach of death by the hymn, "Just as I am," 
which had been repeated to her every morning for two 
months previous. Jerome of Prague, marching to his 
execution, sang: "Welcome, happy morning." 

Sometimes a poet on his deathbed has been com- 
forted by the lines of a hymn written by himself. The 
Rev. Sir Henry Williams Baker, as he was dying on 
February 12, 1877, spoke in clear, hopeful tones a 
part of his own hynm on the twenty-third psalm, 



THE STOHY OF THE HYMNS 83 

''The King of love my Shepherd is," which bears these 
lines: 

In death's dark vale I fear no ill 
With thee, dear Lord, beside me. 

His last words were, 

"And on his shoulder gently laid. 
And home, rejoicing, brought me." 

Likewise, Frances Ridley Havergal at the very close 
of a life of tender, courageous witnessing for the Mas- 
ter, sang a verse of her hymn, which begins, "Golden 
harps are sounding"; and after a convulsive sickness 
she whispered, 'There, now, it's all over," as the 
'Tearly gates were opened" for her soul. 

Dr. George J. Stevenson's volume, "The Methodist 
Hymn Book and Its Associations," is a treasury of the 
triumphant dying words of godly men and women 
who were Wesleyan Methodists in England. Among 
these are some fourscore hymns in our own collection, 
from which lines of triumph and faith have been 
uttered in the dying moments of the devout. How 
clearly and tenderly our hymns, even those not 
classed as hymns of heaven, express the thought and 
sentiment of that solemnly joyful hour of death may 
be seen from such phrases as these, each well accepted 
as the last words spoken or sung by some Christian. 
They are here arranged in logical order: 

Teach me to die, that so I may 

Rise glorious on the judgment day (49). 

Then pain 
Is sweet, and life or death is gain (335). 



84 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

But there's a nobler rest above (73). 

In death as life be thou my guide, 

And save me, who for me hast died (333). 

Happy, if with my latest breath 
I may but gasp his name (222). 

Into thy arms I fall (268). 

The clouds disperse, the shadows fly; 
The Invisible appears in sight. 

And God is seen by mortal ej^e (298). 

The opening heavens around me shine 
With beams of sacred bliss (535). 

And angels beckon me away. 
And Jesus bids me come (624). 

Our shelter from the stormy blast, 
And our eternal home (577). 

There all the ship's company meet. 

Who sailed with the Saviour beneath (594). 

There we shall see liis face. 
And never, never sin (22). 

Through all eternity to thee 
A grateful song I'll raise (105). 

These, and many, many other similar passages, 
have cheered a host of departing pilgrims, and will 
long be remembered as 

The hymns with which they passed away from earth 
In long-gone centuries, that backward sweep.* 

The great variety of conditions under which h5anns 
have been used as prayers is remarkable. The 
writer never so fully realized the power of a hymn, 
uttered in prayer, as upon one summer morning 

i From " Alma Vista," by Lebbeus Harding Rogers, 



THE STOKY OF THE HYMNS 85 

near Intervale in the White Mountains. We paused 
at a farmhouse to inquire the way up the mountain. 
An old, old man opened the door, his head crowned 
with thick, snow-white hair, his face a benediction of 
goodness. When he had told us the way we inquired 
if he knew the great Guide to the heavenly road. His 
answer was the story of his life in brief, a life devoted 
to the Master's service in preaching, teaching, and 
living the gospel. Before we continued our tramp he 
asked us to kneel with him to pray, and with an in- 
finite earnestness, and in every phrase a strange pathos 
and power, he poured out his heart in the lines : 

When I survey the wondrous cross 
On which the Prince of glory died. 

All four verses he recited, and this alone was his prayer, 
one of the most eloquent petitions we had ever heard. 
An ancient Methodist illustration of the effective 
use of hymns in soul-winning was the conversion of 
Sarah Baker, of Tiverton in England, while after his 
sermon, Mr. Rouse, a local preacher, was reading the 
line, "This is the time, no more delay." Instances of 
conversions, such as this, are the most practical argu- 
ments in favor of the time-honored custom of reading 
hymns before singing, in order to more deeply impress 
the thought of the words. Similarly, the Rev. Samuel 
Wesley's hymn, "Behold the Saviour of mankind/' 
while being read at a love feast, led Owen Davis, a 
Welshman, to accept the atonement of Christ, and, 
yielding his life to the Master's service, he became one 
of John Wesley's effective preachers. The original 
manuscript of this hymn, no copy being then in exist- 



86 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

ence, was almost miraculously saved by being blown 
out of the window during the fire that burned the 
Epworth Rectory to the ground, August 24, 1709. 

Sometimes by reading a hymn in private, a soul has 
been awakened to conviction and repentance. Thus 
a Walkeringham teacher, William Morris, was con- 
verted by reading the lines beginning: "Stung by the 
scorpion sin," in the hymn, "Let heaven and earth 
agree." In the quietude of family devotions, John 
Watson, of Yorkshire, joined in the singing of "Wel- 
come, sweet day of rest." The lines, 

One day amidst the place 
Where my dear Lord has been 

Is better than ten thousand days 
Of pleasurable sin, 

became engraved upon his conscience, and, retiring to 
solitude, he gave his heart and life to God. 

Dr. Stevenson at one time compiled a record of two 
hundred souls who had been converted at various 
times during the singing of "Arise, my soul, arise." 
He also tells the story of a young man, a leader in 
social gayety, who had been persuaded by a friend to 
attend a Bible reading. Retiring to a saloon for 
revelry to stifle his conscience, he was haunted by the 
lines sung at the meeting: 

Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove, 
With all thy quickening powers; 

Come, shed abroad a Saviour's love, 
And that shall quicken ours. 

He soon left the house, and sought the pardon of God. 

The wife of the Rev. John Shipman, a Wesleyan 

minister, attributed her conversion to the influence of 



THE STOEY OF THE HYMNS 87 

the hymn, "Come, let us anew our journey pursue/' 
as sung at a Watch-night meeting in Aberdeen, Scot- 
land, when she was a girl. 

It was through the singing of Isaac Watts's hymn, 
"Alas! and did my Saviour bleed," that the evangelist 
E. P. Hammond was converted at the age of seventeen 
in Southington, Connecticut. Dr. Duffield^ tells us of 
a sailor fearing the approach of death, and having no 
Bible to comfort him, remembered at last the hymn 
line: "For he was slain for us." Then, recalling the 
rest of the hynm, "Come, let us join our cheerful 
songs," he found divine acceptance. Other instances 
he gives us. During a frightful storm the Rev. 
Andrew Kinsman was dining with a young man, 
whom he had met in company with the great Rev. 
George Whitefield. Quoting to him the lines* 

'The God that reigns on high, 
And thunders when he please," 

Kinsman added, 

"This awful God is ours, 
Our Father and our Love" ; 

and this led to the young man's conversion. 

Dr. Spencer, in "Pastor's Sketches," relates a young 
woman's conversion to the singing of the hymn: 
"How sad our state by nature is!" early in one of his 
Sabbath services. Her mind seized upon the lines, 

A guilty, weak, and helpless worm, 
On thy kind arms I fall, 

until finally she believed and trusted the Saviour. 

1 "English Hymns," by Dr. George Duffield. 



88 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

Fanny Crosby (Van Alstyne), the blind poet, five of 
whose hjnnns are in our Hymnal, in telling the story of 
her conversion, says that during a revival in the old 
Thirtieth Street Church, New York, in 1850, several 
times she had sought the Saviour at the altar; but not 
until one evening, November 20, did the light come. 
"After a prayer was offered they began to sing the 
grand old consecration h3man, *Alas! and did my 
Saviour bleed,' and when they reached the third line 
of the fourth stanza, ^Here, Lord, I give myself away,' 
my very soul flooded with celestial light." Again, as 
in her hymns, the blind singer uses here the figure of 
light to represent salvation and eternal life. 

The good ship Rothsay Castle was wrecked between 
Liverpool and Beaumaris in 1831, and nearly a hun- 
dred people were drowned. James Martin, a class 
leader from Liverpool, was clinging to a plank, from 
which several had dropped into the sea, when suddenly 
those near by heard, in his voice : 

'The God that rules on high, 

That all the earth surveys, 
That rides upon the stormy sky, 

And calms the roaring seas. 

*'This awful God is ours, 

Our Father and our Love, 
He will send down his heavenly powers 

To carry us above." 

After thus fearlessly facing death, he was rescued with 
a score of others. 

Professor Dempter, of the Garrett Biblical Institute, 
and a company of missionaries on their way to South 
America were chased for three days by a pirate ship. 



THE STOKY OF THE HYMNS 89 

As the pirates approached, the ship's company went 
on deck, and all of them sang to the tune of '^Old 
Hundred": 

"Before Jehovah's awful throne, 
Ye nations bow with sacred joy; 

Know that the Lord is God alone, 
He can create and he destroy.'' 

While they were kneeling in prayer the enemy lay by, 
near the side of their vessel, then turned about, and 
sailed away. 

John Wesley, about to preach in the market place 
at Chesterfield, was haled before a magistrate. But 
before going he said to his congregation, ^Triends, 
sing a hymn while I am gone; I shall soon be back." 
And then he gave out the hymn: 

Why should the children of a King 
Go mourning all their days? 

In a short time, while they were still singing over the 
hymn, he returned triumphant. 

A remarkable story is told by Dr. Duffield of the 
hymn, ^'All hail the power of Jesus' name." The Rev. 
E. P. Scott, while a missionary in India, started out, 
contrary to the pleas of his friends, to visit a distant 
tribe of murderous mountaineers. Upon first seeing 
him the natives pointed their spears at his heart. 
Expecting instant death, he brought forth his violin, 
and played while he sang with closed eyes, ''All hail 
the power of Jesus' name." When he came to the 
verse, "Let every kindred, every tribe," he opened his 
eyes to find their attitude wholly changed. This was 
the beginning of two years and a half of blessed service 



90 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

in preaching Christ and teaching this tribe to "crown 
him Lord of all." 

One of the most dramatic settings for the singing of 
a hymn was the occasion upon which King George of 
Tonga formally proclaimed his nation to be hence- 
forth Christian, granting to them a Christian constitu- 
tion. Five thousand natives on Whitsunday, 1862, 
assembled about their king, sang the hymn (631) : 

Jesus shall reign where'er the sun 
Does his successive journeys run; 
His kingdom spread from shore to shore, 
Till moons shall wax and wane no more. 

A curious use of hymns is cited by Fanny Crosby 
in her autobiography, "Memories of Eighty Years' ^ 
"When a member of the Soldiers' Christian Union 
meets a comrade he says. Tour hundred and ninety- 
four,' which is the number of ^God be with you till we 
meet again' in 'Sacred Songs and Solos'; the latter 
replies, 'Six farther on,' that is 500, which is the num- 
ber of 'Blessed assurance.' " 

The famous temperance advocate, John B. Gough, 
tells of his sad parting from his mother at home to sail 
for America. The ship, becalmed off Sandsgate, his 
home, was visited by many of his friends and relatives, 
and at last by his mother, who had been away during 
most of the day. When night shut down upon them 
and the boats were drawing away in the darkness to 
the shore, all joined in singing: 

Blest be the dear, uniting love, 

Which will not let us part; 
Our bodies may far hence remove, 

We still are one in heart. 



THE STORY OF THE HYMNS 91 

The Rev. Dr. Samuel West, an old-time New Eng- 
land pastor, once won over his recalcitrant choir, 
which had refused to sing in the service, by giving out 
the hymn, "Come, ye that love the Lord," and 
asking all to begin with the second verse: 

Let those refuse to sing, 
Who never knew our God. 

The spirit of warfare, so alien to the Christian faith, 
has been sometimes justified and sanctified when 
applied to a righteous cause ; and with its heroisms are 
often associated the singing of hymns. 'Terrible as 
is war," said Heine, "it yet displays the spiritual gran- 
deur of man, daring to defy his mightiest and heredi- 
tary enemy, Death." While the ungodly man, with a 
grim outward stoicism, sets his face stolidly toward 
battle, the true Christian, fighting for some sacred 
cause in the name of the Prince of Peace, advances 
enthusiastically with a hymn in his heart and oft- 
times upon his lips, and scorns death merely as the 
"narrow stream" that "divides that happy land from 
ours." In this spirit many times has a German army 
charged into battle, singing Luther's "Ein' feste Burg" 
(written in 1529), the better to "fight the good fight 
with all their might," the good fight of militant 
Protestantism. This hymn, styled by Heine "The 
Marseillaise of the Reformation," is known to have 
been sung by the army of Gustavus Adolphus before 
the Battle of Leipzig, in 1631, and also before the 
Battle of Liitzen, in 1632. The Huguenots of France 
frequently used it during the troublous years, 1560 



92 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

to 1572; and many instances are recorded of its 
use by regiments of Germans in the Franco-Prussian 
war. 

"Fear not, O little flock, the foe/' was composed 
and used as the battle song of the Swedish king, Gus- 
tavus Adolphus, in his campaign against Wallenstein 
for the preservation of Protestantism in Germany. 
Of several theories as to its authorship, the most 
probable one, and that accepted by the editors 
of our H5niinal, is that Dr. Jacob Fabricus (or 
Fabricius), the court chaplain, in these poetical 
lines paraphrased the thought and sentiment of the 
king, thus giving to the army a hymn, by which 
they conquered in the Battle of Liitzen, though at 
the frightful cost of losing their gallant and devout 
commander. 

Another German hymn of war times is "Now thank 
we all our God.'' Some evidence makes questionable 
the story that it was written as a national Te Deum 
after the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). Even 
though it may have been written during the war, it 
was undoubtedly used after the Peace of Westphal as a 
song of deliverance by the German people, who, like 
its author, had suffered frightful hardships to win the 
war. 

Oliver Cromwell's army was ridiculed as a psalm- 
singing rabble, though his detractors knew well that 
the very singing of their hymns helped to make them 
the one invincible army in all Europe. 

In a later chapter we mention the tune "Caledonia," 
to which the Scottish warriors frequently sang the 



THE STORY OF THE HYMNS 93 

melody, later set to ^ 'Scots, wha hae wi' Wallace 
bled," as they charged upon the English foe in the 
effort to regain the throne for James III. 

In our own land how often has the anthem, "My 
coimtry, 'tis of thee," inspired a regiment of soldiers! 
During the Revolutionary War, long before this hymn 
was written, an incident occurred concerning its tune, 
which Dr. Duffield has repeated. A company of 
British soldiers entered a Long Island church and 
commanded the colonists to sing, "God save the 
king." The melody was sung, but in devotion to 
their consciences and to their God, the people sang 
the words frequently used in the earlier days to this 
tune, thereby confounding their enemies: 

Come, thou almighty King, 
Help us thy name to sing, 

The Rev. Dr. James H. Perry, pastor of the Pacific 
Street Methodist Episcopal Church in Brooklyn, was 
attending Conference in the spring of 1861, w^hen the 
news of the bombardment of Fort Sumter was re- 
ceived. He arose amid the intense excitement, and 
said: "I was educated by the government; it now 
needs my services. I shall resign my ministry and 
again take up my sword." He became colonel of 
the 48th Regiment N. Y. S. Volunteers, which was 
known as "Perry's Saints." The Rev. Dr. A. J. Pal- 
mer, formerly missionary secretary, tells in his book 
and in his famous lecture the story of his Company D 
in this regiment, which always went into battle sing- 
ing, "I'm going home to die no more." Their com- 



94 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

rades, therefore, nicknamed the company 'The Die- 
no-mores. "^ 

There was another hymn, ''Say, brothers, will you 
meet us,^' brought from Methodist camp meetings to 
the army by the Second Battalion of Massachusetts 
Infantry, whose tune, fortunately not in our present 
Hymnal, exerted a wide influence in the Civil War; 
for to this tune the words, "John Brown's body," were 
sung throughout the army, and later also the "Battle 
Hymn of the Republic," by Julia Ward Howe. 

iCf. "48th Regiment State Volunteers," by A. J. Palmer. Published, 
1885, by Veteran Association of the Regiment, 



CHAPTER V 

THE HYIMN-WRITERS 

English Hymxody — America" Hymxody — The 
Translations — The Titles 

If the bibliography of hymnody, the body of the 
hymns, and hymnology, the science of hymns, were 
developed exhaustively, the study would attain to 
tremendous proportions. Dr. Julian in his ^'Dic- 
tionary of Hymnology" says: "The total number of 
Christian hjonns in the two hundred or more dialects 
in which they have been written or translated is not 
less than four hundred thousand. When classified 
into languages the greatest number are found to be 
in German, English, Latin, and Greek in the order 
named." Only a few hymns have survived to be 
adopted by the modern Church, and a large propor- 
tion of the best of these are to be found within the 
Methodist Hymnal. 

To adequately tell the story of even our own 
seven hundred and forty-eight hynms, with critical 
accounts of their authors, the conditions under 
which they were written, the publications first con- 
taining them and the dates thereof, their successive 
alterations and the stories of their use — all these 
legitimate inquiries of hymnology would easily ex- 
pand into the proportions of a small library. 
One hymnologist in Brooklyn, New York, has 
attempted this with a body of hymns in common 

95 



96 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

use, and already his large manuscript volumes 
number forty. Having already examined a few 
typical hymns and their stories, we must be 
content with but a glimpse of some of the more 
prominent hymn authors, an outline of the suc- 
cessive periods in English hymn-writing, together 
with a statement of our debt to the hymns of 
foreign languages. 

The foundations of English hymnody rest largely 
upon the metrical versions of the Psalms, which, to- 
gether with other scriptural translations, were long 
regarded as the only hymn-forms permissible in 
divine worship. These we shall discuss later, along 
with other translations from the Hebrew. Though 
there were many original English hymns before his 
time, the first great hymnist of England repre- 
sented in our Hymnal was Bishop Thomas Ken 
(1637-1711), who wrote the "Morning Hymn" (44), 
"Evening Hymn" (49), and the Doxology (718), 
"Praise God, from whom all blessings flow," all 
of which appeared first in his "Manual of Prayers 
for the Winchester Scholars," 1700. The good 
bishop, arrested with six other bishops by James 
II, and later under William of Orange harassed by 
political intrigue, would not compromise his prin- 
ciples to gain political preferment, and hence was 
forced into retirement. Of him Macaulay said in 
his "History of England": "He was a man of 
parts and learning, of quick sensibility and stainless 
virtue. His elaborate works have long been for- 
gotten, but his morning and evening hymns are still 



THE HYMN-WRITERS 97 

repeated daily in thousands of dwellings." In his 
retirement Bishop Ken wrote these lines: 

I gladly wars ecclesiastic fly, 
Whene'er contentious spirits I descry: 
Eased of my sacred load, I live content, 
In hymns, not in disputes, my passions vent. 

Three great authors of his century are represented 
in the Hymnal by three great h5nnns, ^ Teach me, my 
God and King'' (417), by George Herbert (1593-1632) ; 
'The Lord wJU come and not be slow" (642), a trans- 
lation by John Milton (1608-74); and ''Lord, it be- 
longs not to my care" (470), by Richard Baxter (1615- 
91), the celebrated author of "Saints' Rest." 

In the model style of the brilliant Joseph Addison 
(1672-1719) we have three hymns, each of them 
from his famous periodical, "The Spectator": 
" The spacious firmament on high " (84), being 
from "Spectator" No. 465, 1712; "How are thy 
servants blest, Lord" (102), from No. 489, 1712; 
and " When all thy mercies, my God" (105), from 
No. 453, 1712. 

The Preface to the Methodist Hymnal announces 
that it contains, besides the Wesley hymns, "the 
choicest work of the other hymn-writers of the eight- 
eenth century, Doddridge, Watts, Cowper, Newton, 
Montgomery." The first of these, in chronology, in 
some points of excellence, and in the number of 
hymns in our collection (fifty-three, next to Charles 
Wesley's the highest number), was the Rev. Dr. Isaac 
Watts (1674-1748). Born in a nonconformist family, 
in severest times of religious persecution, he dis- 



98 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

plays a militant dogmatism on the side of Calvinism 
in much of his work. But, nevertheless, his devout 
and earnest thought, cast in the mold of scriptural 
phrase, and making use of the simplest English words, 
has won for him the title, 'The Father of English 
Hymns." The Watts translations from the Psalms 
are mentioned on a later page. His hymn, "When 
I survey the wondrous cross" (141), was styled by 
Matthew Arnold ''the greatest hymn in the English 
language." Next in the number of our hymns (twen- 
ty-two) stands the Rev. Dr. Philip Doddridge (1702- 
51), theologian and poet, who is best known to Meth- 
odists by his hymn, "0 happy day, that fixed my 
choice." Even more than Watts he confined his 
poems to scriptural phrase. For twenty years he was 
pastor in a Northampton nonconformist church, at 
the same time writing voluminously and teaching 
young theologians vigorously. 

The Rev. John Newton (1725-1807) and William 
Cowper (1731-1800), though younger than the Wes- 
leys, lived and worked as their contemporaries. From 
the former we have thirteen hymns, from the latter 
ten. Newton was converted from a violent life of sin 
while at sea, and, returning to England, he gave his 
life to an active ministry, keeping in touch with the 
Wesleys and their work. In his residence at Olney 
as curate, he became associated with Cowper in writ- 
ing "The Olney Hymns." Cowper's life had been 
redeemed from a life of despair to 

A season of clear shining, 
To cheer it after rain, 



THE HYMN-WRITEKS 99 

(to use his own phrase in hymn 454); and, though 
later his temperamental morbidness would sometimes 
unbalance his mind, he sang through his sorrow the 
same redemption and with the same intensity as New- 
ton. Cowper's 'There is a fountain filled with blood'' 
(291), and Newton's ''Glorious things of thee are 
spoken" (210), have long been great favorites in 
Methodist worship. 

The last of these five names, James Montgomery 
(1771-1854), belongs more to the nineteenth than to 
the eighteenth century. Nineteen of his four hundred 
hymns are in our collection. A Scotchman so radical 
in his politics as to be twice cast into prison, an editor 
and literary critic, he will long be remembered for his 
Christian piety and its beautiful expression in such 
hymns as "Behold! the Christian warrior stands" (397) 
"In the hour of trial" (431), or "Prayer is the soul's 
sincere desire" (497). 

The greatest of all English hymn-writers was Charles 
Wesley, greatest in the prodigious number of hymns 
that he wrote (said to be over sixty-five hundred with- 
in fifty years), greatest in his statement of doctrine and 
the earnestness of his zeal, and greatest in his high 
poetic expression of an intense love for the Saviour. 
His hymns in the Methodist Hymnal are one hundred 
and twenty-nine, or about one sixth of the book. The 
eighteenth child in the Wesley family, he came near 
to being adopted by a wealthy Irish gentleman. But 
he did not leave his family, until he made the journey 
to Georgia with his brother, John. After his con- 
version and a brief stay in Islington as curate, he 



100 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

joined his brother's great work for the rest of his Hfe. 
Their relaton to the Church of England caused a 
difference of opinion on the subject between the two 
brothers; but as preachers and as hymn-writers both 
remained loyal and tremendously active in advancing 
the cause of Methodism. 

The Wesleys were the most remarkable family in 
the annals of hymnology. The father of John and 
Charles, the Rev. Samuel Wesley (1662-1735), an 
intensely earnest clergyman of the Church of England, 
passed through a series of hardships both in providing 
for his large family from a meager income and in fac- 
ing the bitter opposition of his fellow townsmen at 
Epworth, that would have overwhelmed a less coura- 
geous man. His writings in prose were voluminous; 
and of his poetry we still preserve in our Hymnal his 
lines: * 'Behold the Saviour of mankind" (142). His 
wife, Susanna Wesley, through the remarkable in- 
fluence of her piety upon her children, has won the 
title, "The Mother of Methodism." Four of their 
children became poets of a high order. From the 
Rev. Samuel Wesley, the younger, and his sister, 
Mehetabel Wesley, we possess no hymns in our Hym- 
nal, though many hymns from the former are now in 
use in England, while from the sacred poetry of the 
latter many verses could well be used as hymns. 

While Charles was the greatest hymn-writer, John 
Wesley (1703-91) was in other respects the greater 
man; for through his marvelous genius for organiza- 
tion, his infinite capacity for work, and his ability as 
a preacher he exerted the greatest influence of any 



THE HYMN-WKITEKS 101 

man upon his generation in England. And withal he 
excelled as a h3Tiin-writer. Over thirty translations 
he made from the German, French, and Spanish, 
many of them being in our H3minal. Our one original 
hymn from his pen is ^'How happy is the pilgrim's lot" 
(624), the rest, save for a quatrain doxology, being 
translations or alterations. 

An important commentary upon the hymnodic 
inspirations of the Wesleyan movement in the eight- 
eenth century is to be found in the remarkable list of 
hymn-writers in the Hymnal, who were allied with the 
Wesleys either in active work or frequent sympathetic 
communication. The Rev. Robert Seagrave (1693- 
1764), famous for ''Rise, my soul, and stretch thy 
wings" (623), a clergyman of the Established Church, 
became a coworker with the Wesleys. The two Welsh- 
men, the Rev. William Williams (1717-91), author of 
''Guide me, thou great Jehovah" (91), and John 
Cennick (1718-55), author of three hymns — one of 
them, "Lo! He comes, with clouds descending" (601), 
being famed as the English "Dies Irse" — were both 
active in the new evangelism. Cennick was a lay 
preacher. Their Calvinism, however, later led them 
apart from the Wesleys. Likewise the Rev. WiUiam 
Hammond (1719-83), at first a Calvinistic Methodist, 
finally joined the Moravians. The Rev. Thomas 
Olivers (1725-99), a cobbler converted under White- 
field, became a great Wesleyan preacher, and wrote 
"The God of Abraham praise" (4) and "0 thou God of 
my salvation" (25). The familiar "All hail the power 
of Jesus' name" (180) was written by the Rev. Ed- 



102 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

ward Perronet (1721?-1792), who for eight years was 
intimately associated with the Wesleys. The Rev. 
Robert Robinson (1735-90), author of "Come, thou 
Fount of every blessing" (19), and the Rev. John 
Fawcett (1740-1817), author of ''Blest be the tie that 
binds" (556), and four other hymns of ours, were both 
converted under Whitefield's preaching and became 
Methodists, though the latter afterward served a 
Baptist church. So each one of these eight sacred 
poets drew spiritual inspiration from Methodism. 

The author of ''Rock of Ages" (279), the Rev. 
Augustus M. Toplady (1740-78), really belonged to 
the new evangelistic movement; but his Calvinism 
kept him in violent controversy with John Wesley. 
Before he was thirty years old he had received an 
ecclesiastical appointment in London, but his frail 
body and emotional temperament could not with- 
stand the overwork and the onslaughts of the disease 
that conquered him within ten years. 

The Rev. Joseph Hart (1712-68), who wrote "Come, 
ye sinners" (259), and three more of our hymns, was 
a Congregationalist. The Rev. Benjamin Beddome 
(1717-95), the Rev. Samuel Medley (1738-99), the 
Rev. Dr. Samuel Stennett (1727-95), and the R«v. 
Benjamin Francis (1734-99), each represented by 
three or four of our hymns, were Baptists. Stemiett's 
grandfather, the Rev. Joseph Stennett (1663-1713), 
wrote our hymn, "Another six days' work is done" 
(70). 

Sir Robert Grant (1785-1838), a member of Parlia- 
ment and later governor of Bombay, and Repnald 



THE HYMN-WKITEKS 103 

Heber (1783-1826), Bishop of Calcutta, each wrote six 
of our hymns. Both were hymnodists of the first 
Hterary rank, both were deeply devout, both died in 
India. Bishop Heber, the more missionary of the 
two in spirit, is best known to us by the hymn: "From 
Greenland's icy mountains" (655); Sir Robert Grant 
by "0 worship the King" (106). - 

The influences of the Oxford Movement in the early 
nineteenth century for the regeneration of the Church 
of England have left a permanent impress upon Eng- 
lish hymns. The Rev. John Keble (1792-1866), 
author of our morning and evening hymns — '^New 
every morning is the love" (42) and ''Sun of my soul" 
(47) — and also of ''Blest are the pure in heart" (360) — 
preached in Oxford the famous Assize Sermon in 
1833, which Cardinal Newman declared to be the first 
impetus of the Oxford Movement. These hymns are 
taken from his famous poetical work, "The Christian 
Year," 1827 (the last of these three hymns being a 
cento), which sounded forth strong notes of warning 
to the languishing army of the Church. 

Cardinal John H. Newman's (1801-90) "Lead, 
kindly Light, amid th' encircling gloom," was essen- 
tially a product and an expression of the unrest and 
consequent gloom of this period. His formal entrance 
into the Church of Rome in 1845 was quickly followed 
the next year by the secession of Dr. Frederick Wil- 
liam Faber (1815-63) from the Church of England to 
Rome. Although all of Faber's hymns were written 
after that decision, the spirit of eleven of them is so 
broad that they are used in our own Methodist Hym- 



104 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

nal, some with theological alterations, as "Faith of our 
fathers" (415), others without change, as "There's a 
wideness in God's mercy" (98). Matthew Bridges 
(1800-93), author of "Rise, glorious Conqueror, rise" 
(161), and "Crown him with many crowns" (179), 
also left the Church of England for Roman Catholi- 
cism. 

Of the older clergymen, contemporary with the 
leaders of the Oxford Movement, though less active in 
controversy, were the Rev. Henry Francis Lyte 
(1793-1847), author of "Abide with me" (50), said to 
be the greatest hynm-writer of his period; the Rev. 
William H. Bathurst (1796-1877), author of "0 for 
that flame of living fire" (187), each of whom wrote 
three of our hymns; the Rev. Thomas Kelley (1769- 
1855), whose hymns are all peculiarly majestic in 
tone, and the Rev. Christopher Wordsworth (1807- 
85), Bishop of Lincoln, author of "0 day of rest and 
gladness" (68). Each of the last two wrote six of our 
hymns. 

Of the younger clergymen of this period, the Rev. 
Dr. Horatius Bonar (1808-89) was the most popular, 
having written twelve of our hymns, such as "I lay 
my sins on Jesus" (488) and "I heard the voice of 
Jesus say" (304). His wife wrote our hymn No. 529. 
Dean H. H. Milman (1791-1868), of Saint Paul's, 
wrote "Ride on, ride on in majesty" (150), Dean Henry 
Alford (1810-71), of Canterbury, "Forward! be our 
watchword" (384) and three other hymns of ours, and 
Dean Arthur P. Stanley (1815-81), of Westminster, 
two hymns and one translation in our Hymnal. 



THE HYMN-WKITEKS 105 

Among our six hymns from Bishop William Walsham 
How (1823-97) the most popular is ''0 Jesus, thou 
art standing" (282), while many pronounce his "For 
all the saints" (430) the greatest hymn added to our 
collection by the recent revision. The Rev. J. S. B. 
Monsell (1811-75), the Rev. Godfrey Thring (1823- 
1903), the Rev. Dr. Edward H. Bickersteth (1825- 
), author of "Peace, perfect peace" (528), the Rev. 
John Ellerton (1826-93), author of "Saviour, again to 
thy dear name" (38), and the Rev. Sabine Baring- 
Gould (1834- ), author of "Onward, Christian 
soldiers!" (383) should all be added to the list ol 
successful clerical hymnists of this period. Three oi 
four hymns from each of them are in our Hymnal. 

Four distinguished knights are also counted among 
the hymn-writers of the nineteenth century: Sir 
Robert Grant, already mentioned; Sir John Bowring, 
LL.D. (1792-1872), a noted Unitarian scholar and 
governmental executive, once governor of Hong- 
kong, on whose tombstone was inscribed the first line 
of his hymn, "In the cross of Christ I glory" (143); 
Sir Edward Denny (1796-1889), a member of the 
Plymouth Brethren; and the Rev. Sir Henry Williams 
Baker (1821-77), Vicar of Monkland. 

From some of England's greatest poets we have 
chosen two or more hymns. Sir Walter Scott's (1771- 
1832) "When Israel, of the Lord beloved" (95), based 
on the one hundred and fifth psalm, is introduced into 
his novel, "Ivanhoe," where it is sung by Rebecca, the 
Jewess, at the close of the day on which her trial oc- 
curred; and his free translation of "Dies Irae," "The 



106 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

day of wrath, that dreadful day" (603), occurs at the 
close of ^The Lay of the Last Minstrel," wherein it 
is sung in Melrose Abbey. Thomas Moore's (1779- 
1852) '^0 Thou who driest the mourner's tear" (522) 
and ''Come, ye disconsolate" (526) are a part of his 
"Sacred Songs," 1816. Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809- 
92), has given to our hymnody ''Strong Son of God, im- 
mortal Love" (139), "Late, late, so late!" (743) and 
"Sunset and evening star" (744); and Mrs. Elizabeth 
Barrett Browning (1806-61), "Since without Thee we 
do no good" (504) and "Of all the thoughts of God 
that are" (541). 

American hymnody made its beginnings in the 
metrical Psalms, as we shall see in later paragraphs. 
Timothy Dwight (1752-1817), one of the most cele- 
brated Psalm versifiers, also wrote several original 
hymns. Two other great names in early American 
psalmody, Oliver Holden (1765-1844) and Thomas 
Hastings (1784-1872), are celebrated both as hymnists 
and as composers. Altogether there are nine such 
names in our Hymnal listed both as composers 
and authors, attached to the music or words of 
twenty-nine of our hymns. Besides Holden and 
Hastings the others are Sir Henry William Baker, 
Frances Ridley Havergal, Martin Luther, the Rev. 
A. H. C. Malan, Georg Neumark, the Rev. John H. 
Stockton, and Caleb T. Winchester. Most of them 
were also editors of musical collections. In only four 
of the twenty-nine hymns is the composer and author 
the same person. 

Eight names groat in the annals of American poetry 



THE HYMN-WKITEES 107 

are to be found among the authors of our hjonns. 
William Cullen Bryant (1794-1 878), author of 'Thana- 
topsis," etc., wrote four hymns of the present Hymnal, 
just half the number in the 1878 Methodist Episcopal 
Hymnal, for which he wrote especially a Temperance 
Hymn now omitted. Nathaniel Parker Willis (1807- 
67), whose poetry attained widespread though short- 
lived popularity in the middle of the last century, 
wrote hymn No. 660; and his brother, Richard Storrs 
Willis, wrote the music to our hymn, ''It came upon 
the midnight clear" (110), by the Unitarian clergy- 
man, Dr. Sears. 'There's a song in the air" (112) is 
by Dr. Josiah G. Holland (1819-81), author of "Ka- 
trina," and editor of Scribner's Magazine. The two 
greatest American men of letters among our hymn- 
writers are Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-94) and 
John G. Whittier (1806-92). Dr. Holmes's "Lord of 
all being" (82) and "0 Love divine, that stooped to 
share" (457) both appeared in his famous volume, 
'The Professor at the Breakfast Table." Mr. Whit- 
tier's seven hymns breathe the spirit of devout 
humility so characteristic of the Quaker poet, a 
humility evident even in the very first lines of the 
hymns: "We may not climb the heavenly steeps" 
(128), "It may not be our lot to wield "(398), "I bow 
my forehead in the dust" (472), "Dear Lord and 
Father of mankind. Forgive our feverish ways" (543). 
Three younger famous literary men have each given 
to us one hymn: John Hay (1838-1905), Lincoln's 
private secretary and President McKinley's Secretary 
of State; Sidney Lanier (1842-81), the poet of the 



108 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

South, whose pathetic music sings sadly through the 
lines, "Into the woods my Master went" (745) ; and 
Richard Watson Gilder (1844-1909), editor of the 
Century Magazine, the son of a Methodist minister. 

Two American clergymen, whose names are less 
known in other forms of poetry, have come to be re- 
garded as the greatest American hymn-writers: the 
Rev. Dr. Ray Palmer (1808-87) and the Rev. Dr. Sam- 
uel Francis Smith (1808-95). Each was born in the 
year 1808, and each is represented by four hynms in 
our Hymnal. "The morning light is breaking" (653) 
and "My country, 'tis of thee" (702), are by Dr. 
Smith, and "My faith looks up to thee" (334), by Dr. 
Palmer, the last two being in the same meter. 

The Protestant Episcopalian Bishop of New Jersey, 
George Washington Doane (1799-1859), so named 
because he was born the same year when died the 
"Father of his Country," wrote three of our hymns, all 
of them well known: "Fling out the banner" (639), 
"Thou art the Way" (133), "Softly now the light of 
day" (53). His son, William Croswell Doane (1832- 

), first Bishop of Albany, wrote "Ancient of days" 
(76). Just as the English hymnologist, the Rev. Dr. 
John Julian (1834- ), editor of the great "Dictionary 
of Hymnology," produced one of our beet hymns 
(15), so also did the American hymnologist, the Rev. 
Dr. George Duffield, Jr. (1818-88), in "Stand up, stand 
up for Jesus!" (386). Three of our hymns came from 
the Unitarian clergyman, the Rev. Samuel Longfellow 
(1819-92), who was a brother of the poet Longfellow; 
one hymn each from the Rev. Dr. Charles F. Deems 



5 uwuX^"Mi:^» HctIm ^IvovT, 
Kij^ Vt-^JL^ c^pvc^ Ui^ vs Pemfe><n5C, 

Autograph Copy of Dr. William F. Warren's Hymn, 
"I Worship Thee, O Holy Ghost." 



THE HYMN-WKITERS 109 

(1819-93), the Rev. Dr. Maltbie D. Babcock (1851- 
1901), both New York city pastors; the Rev. Dr. 
Henry M. Dexter (1821-90), editor of the Congrega- 
tionalist; the Rev. Dr. J. E. Rankin (1828-1904), 
president of Howard University, Washington, D. C, 
who wrote *'God be with you"; the Rev. Dr. J. H. 
Gilmore (1834- ), professor in Rochester University, 
who wrote *'He leadeth me"; Bishop Phillips Brooks 
(1835-93), of Boston; the Rev. Dr. Washington 
Gladden, the well-known author; and the Rev. Dr. 
Melancthon Woolsey Stryker (1851- ), president of 
Hamilton College. 

Of the Methodist authors still living, the Rev. Dr. 
William Fairfield Warren (1833- ), dean of the 
School of Theology, Boston University, brother of 
Bishop Warren, and also Professor Caleb T. Win- 
chester, of Wesleyan University, each wrote one 
hymn. The Rev. Dr. Frank Mason North, secretary 
of the New York City Church Extension and Mission- 
ary Society, and the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Copeland, 
pastor of the Humboldt Parkway Church, in Buffalo, 
New York, each wrote two hymns. Dr. North's 
beautiful lines were inspired by the crying needs of 
his missionary work in the city (423): 

Where cross the crowded ways of life, 
Where sound the cries of race and clan, 

Above the noise of selfish strife, 
We hear thy voice, O Son of man! 

To which he adds in the fifth verse this plaintive 

prayer: 

O Master, from the mountain side. 

Make haste to heal these hearts of pain, 



110 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

Among these restless throngs abide, 
O tread the city's streets again. 

H. M. Chalfont has already calculated^ that of 301 
authors in the Methodist Hymnal about one half are 
clergymen and over one sixth are women. Fifty- 
three women have written eighty-seven hynms. Six- 
teen feminine names were dropped from the Methodist 
Episcopal Hymnal, and nineteen new ones added to 
the new Hymnal. While woman's work as a com- 
poser is relatively insignificant, comprising less than 
ten of our hymn tunes, her work as hymn-writer often 
reaches the height of spiritual sublimity. 

The first group of women among the hymn-writers 
of the Methodist Hymnal consists of Mrs. Anna Letitia 
Barbauld (1743-1825), one of whose two hymns, 
''Come, said Jesus' sacred voice" (257), is a Methodist 
favorite; Miss Harriet Auber (1773-1825), a native of 
London and a devout member of the Church of Eng- 
land, whose missionary hymn, "Hasten, Lord, the 
glorious time" (637), is the best of our three hymns 
from her pen; ''Mrs. Yokes," regarded by some as a 
nom de plume, author of "Soon may the last glad song 
arise" (630) ; and the greatest woman among hymn- 
writers. Miss Charlotte Elliott (1789-1871), author of 
five of our hymns, among them being "My God, my 
Father, while I stray" (521, 736) and "Just as I am" 
(272), probably the most powerful soul-winning hymn 
ever penned. 

The most popular hymn by a woman is "Nearer, my 
God, to thee" (315), by Mrs. Sarah Flower Adams 

1 "Women io the New Hymnal," Christian Advocate, 1906, p. 1641. 



THE HYMN-WKITEKS 111 

(1805-48), a devout Unitarian, whose father, Benja- 
min Flower, was a poUtical prisoner in jail for writing 
a defense of the French Revolution, when he met Miss 
Eliza Gould, who afterward married him and became 
the mother of Sarah Flower Adams. With her hymn 
is sometimes compared another that is similar in 
spirit and meter, ''More love to thee, Christ" (317), 
by Mrs. Elizabeth Payson Prentiss (1818-78). 

Miss Anna Letitia Waring (1820- ), born in Wales, 
and Adelaide Ann Procter (1825-64), each composed 
three of our hymns, and Mrs. Cecil Francis Alexander 
(1823-95), in Ireland, two of our hymns, that may be 
classed among the very best. They are all intensely 
personal in tone. The first personal pronoun is used 
at least fourteen times in each of these hymns by Miss 
Waring, but always linked with the ideal of great 
humility. The same thing is true of Miss Procter's 
three hymns, all of which are prayers for divine leader- 
ship, for divine blessing, or offering thanks. 

Miss Frances Ridley Havergal (1836-79), to whom 
reference is made in the preceding chapter, wrote eight 
of our Methodist hymns, more than any other woman. 
Of Madame Guyon, Mrs. Browning, and the trans- 
lators, Miss Jane Borthwick and Miss Catherine Wink- 
worth, we have spoken elsewhere. 

In our own land Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811- 
96), author of ''Uncle Tom's Cabin" and of the hymn 
"Still, still with Thee" (43), is the most famous woman 
in the Hymnal, though Mrs. Frances J. Van Alstyne 
(1820- ), known as "Fanny Crosby," the blind 
poetess, has written more hymns than any other 



11^ MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

woman — over five thousand in all. Among Methodist 
women should be named Miss Mary Artemisia Lath- 
bury (1841- ), whose Chautauqua hymns are in the 
Hymnal, Mrs. F. K. Stratton ( ? -1910), and Mrs. 
Caroline Laura Rice (1819-1899), wife of the Rev. Dr. 
William Rice, of Springfield, Massachusetts, where he 
was City Librarian until his death in 1897. 

The Rev. Paul Weyand has shown that 258 of the 
717 hymns of the Hymnal, or thirty-six per cent, were 
written by ministers' children, sons and daughters.^ 
Of these it may be observed more than half came from 
the zealous occupants of the Epworth Rectory, the 
Wesleys. 

The Translations 
Religious thought has coursed through many differ- 
ent languages since the Day of Pentecost, and while 
there are many truths of Christianity that have found 
their noblest expression in the English language, there 
are but few doctrines that have not been at least 
partially enunciated in some other language. This 
debt of ours to other tongues may be distinctly traced 
in our hymnology; and, while it would be a colossal, 
if not to some extent impossible, task to relate each 
devotional idea in our hymns to its original source, 
it is by no means impossible or uninteresting to seek 
out the original hymns written in some other language, 
from which many of the hymns we now use have been 
translated into English, some of them freely and 
some of them with great accuracy. 

1 "Ministers' Children as Authors in the New Hymnal," Christian Advo- 
cate (N. Y.). 1906, p. 721. 



THE HYMN-WKITEES 113 

From the Danish hymn "Igjennem Nat og Traeng- 
sel/' by the eminent poet and professor of the Danish 
language and Uterature at the Academy of Soro, Zea- 
land, Denmark, Bernhardt S. Ingemann, has come om* 
hymn (567), 'Through the night of doubt and sorrow," 
translated by the Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould. 

William Cowper's translation from the French of 
Madame Guyon's ''Amour que mon ame est contente" 
has produced our hymn (518) ''My Lord, how full of 
sweet content, I pass my years of banishment," and 
recalls, as has been previously stated, her persecution 
by the Church of Rome because of the faith that she 
held so dear. Another hymn from the French is 
Antoinette Bourignon's "Venez, Jesus, mon salu- 
taire," which John Wesley translated into our hymn 
(379), "Come, Saviour, Jesus, from above." 

From the Hebrew was derived the hymn (4) "The 
God of Abraham praise," practically a translation by 
Thomas Olivers of the Hebrew Yigdal, or Doxology, 
which rehearses in metrical form the thirteen articles 
of the Hebrew creed. This was originally compiled 
by Daniel ben Judah, a mediaeval writer, although 
the creed itself was compiled before this in the twelfth 
century by Moses Maimonides. The story is repeated 
concerning Thomas Olivers, a militant co-worker of 
John Wesley's, that he was first inspired to write this 
wonderful English version by hearing the Hebrew 
hymn sung in a London synagogue by the congrega- 
tion, led by Rabbi Leoni, to the tune that in our 
Hymnal bears his name. The twelve verses, taken 
from Clivers's long poem, that made hymns 1075, 



114 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

1076, and 1077 in the Methodist Episcopal Hymnal, 
have been compressed into one hymn of six verses 
in this Hymnal. The debt of our hymnology to the 
Hebrew language is very great through the metrical 
translation of the Scriptures. Undoubtedly some of 
these scriptural hymns were made from the King 
James English version of the Bible, though surely 
some give evidence of having come directly from 
the original Hebrew. 

One of the earliest and most famous collections of 
metrical translations of the Psalms was the famous 
Sternhold and Hopkins book, published in London in 
1562. Sternhold, in a sense the father of English 
psalmody, had died thirteen years before, but his 
work was brought to a certain perfection by the Oxo- 
nian poet, John Hopkins. This book was used for a 
hundred and thirty years until the Restoration. 
From it we get the hymn in the 1878 Hymnal, "The 
Lord descended from above." In Scotland the psalm 
books begin with the 1564 psalter, which was later 
supplanted by other books, as the "Royal Psalter" in 
1630, and the famous "Rous' Version" in 1643, 
amended in 1650. But in England the Sternhold and 
Hopkins book was not supplanted until "The New 
Version," 1696, by two Irishmen, Nahum Tate (1652- 
1715) and the Rev. Nicholas Brady (1659-1726), met 
with widespread and lasting favor. As late as 1789 
this book was adopted by the Protestant Episcopal 
Church in America. From this collection we get such 
well-known hymns as: "To Father, Son, and Holy 
Ghost," Doxology (720), "As pants the hart for cool- 



THE HYMJSr-WKITERS 115 

ing streams" (316), and ''0 Lord, our fathers oft have 
told" (700). 

In 1707 Isaac Watts, in whom the metrical trans- 
lation of the Psalms reached its highest beauty, pro- 
duced "Imitations of the Psalms of David in the 
language of the New Testament." From this great 
work have come many of the fifty-three hymns from 
Watts's pen in the Methodist Hymnal. 

In America the first psalm book printed was "The 
Bay Psalm Book," 1636, which replaced the "Ains- 
worth Version" from Holland, then in use. In 1785 
Joel Barlow and in 1800 Timothy Dwight made im- 
portant American revisions of the metrical psalms of 
Isaac Watts, and from the latter we have "I love thy 
kingdom. Lord" (208). Timothy Dwight also wrote, 
"While life prolongs its precious light" (254) and 
"Shall man, God of light and life" (596). 

While two centuries ago the Church regarded as 
little less than sacrilegious the singing in divine wor- 
ship of other hymns than translations from the Scrip- 
tures, to-day the popularity of original hymns is fast 
crowding the ancient metrical psalm out of our hym- 
nals. Three fifths of the metrical psalms in the old 
Methodist Episcopal Hymnal are not in the new 
Hymnal. Most of those omitted were by Watts, 
Wesley, and Montgomery, about equally divided 
between the three. Two from Milton, one from Tate 
and Brady, and one from Stemhold were among the 
banished. Of those metrical {)salms retained from 
the old in the new Hymnal by far the largest number 
are by Isaac Watts, which argues the better adapta- 



116 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

bility of many of his translations, strong in thought 
and simple in vocabulary, to our modern taste. 

Besides the Psalms, many other translations from 
the Hebrew Scriptures appear in our Hymnal, while 
the very free translations and hymns largely based on 
certain passages greatly outnumber the strict trans- 
lations. Philip Doddridge scarcely ever wrote, save 
in following closely the Scriptural thought and phrase. 
Charles Wesley translated into hymns the language 
of Isaiah, Proverbs, Ezekiel, and Micah; and Newton 
and Cowper also verses from Isaiah. 

While the New Testament has undoubtedly exerted 
the larger influence over modern hymnology, there 
have come from the New Testament Greek much 
fewer translations into hymns than from the Old 
Testament Hebrew. Some of the former are Watts's 
^'Come, let us join our cheerful songs" (24), from Rev. 
5. 11-13; Newton's ''May the grace of Christ, our 
Saviour'' (40), from 2 Cor. 13. 14; and Tate and 
Brady's ''While shepherds watched their flocks" (115), 
from Luke 2. 8-14. 

The venerable and scholarly Professor Harmon, of 
Dickinson College, used to delight in saying to his 
classes that if the angels in heaven choose some one 
human language in which to converse, it must be 
good, pure Attic Greek. Be that as it may, the noble 
Greek language produced for the Eastern Church 
some of the greatest hymns of the ages. They are 
marked by a strong simplicity of expression, com- 
bined in some instances with the most exalted devo- 
tion. Our hymn (672) "Shepherd of tender youth" 



THE HYMN-WRITERS 117 

was translated by the Rev. Dr. H. M. Dexter, a New 
England Congregational clergyman, from the earliest 
known Christian hynm : "2rojLtiov ttwAwi^ ddawv" (liter- 
ally, "Bridle of steeds untamed"), by Saint Clement of 
Alexandria (a. d. 170-220). 

Most of our Greek hymns are a part of that body of 
inspiring translations from the Greek with which Dr. 
J. M. Neale has enriched our English hymnody. The 
authorship of the Greek original of "Art thou weary" 
(293) has been a puzzling question for critics. Dr. 
Neale at first attributed it to Stephen, the Sabaite, 
nephew of Saint John of Damascus, though hymnol- 
ogists have searched in vain for the original. Prob- 
ably the clue to these difficulties is revealed in Dr. 
Neale's later comment that there was so little Greek in 
this hymn that it scarcely deserves to be classed as a 
translation. Indeed, while Dr. Neale's other trans- 
lations in our Hymnal follow the original much more 
closely than does this h3ann, his Greek hynms as a 
class have been regarded more as adaptations than 
translations. Dr. Neale's other Greek translations 
in the Hymnal arc: "The day of resurrection" (164), 
irom^^Avaardaeoyg ^/xepa," by Saint John of Damas- 
cus; "Come, yo faithful, raise the strain" (163), from 
*^''Ao(Dfi€v TTdvreg XcloI,^^ also by Saint John of Damas- 
cus; and "Christian! dost thou see them?" (616), from 
"Ov yoQ (i^TTELg Tovg TaQdrrovraq,^^ by Saint Andrew, 
Archbishop of Crete (660-732). These last belong 
to a later period of Greek h)niin-writing, which was 
distinguished from its predecessors by a marked 
difference in style. 



118 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

Practically all of the hymns of the Western Church 
were written in the Latin, in which has been preserved 
the best thought of the Christian faith through at least 
the first fourteen centuries. The choicest of the Latin 
hymns were selected with great editorial care and 
embodied in the successive Breviaries, prepared under 
Papal supervision to standardize the various forms 
of worship of the Roman Catholic Church. These 
Breviaries contain not only the hymns but also the 
forms and ritual of the various offices to be used in 
the services of the Christian year. Julian mentions 
nine Breviaries: the Mozarabic (or Spanish), the Am- 
brosian, the Roman (from which Caswell largely 
selected his hymns in our Hymnal), the Sarum (in use 
in England before the Reformation, the chief source of 
Neale's translations), the York, the Aberdeen, the 
Paris (I. Williams, J. Chandler, and J. D. Chambers 
being the chief translators), the Hereford, and the 
Monastic Breviaries. Nearly all of our Methodist 
h3mins from the Latin are translations from original 
hymns contained in one or more of these Breviaries. 

Our hymn "All glory, laud, and honor" (31) is Dr. 
John M. Neale's translation of "Gloria, Laus et Honor,'' 
by Saint Theodulph of Orleans. Until the seven- 
teenth century this hymn for Palm Sunday retained a 
quaint verse, of which the following is a translation: 

Be thou, Lord, the Rider, 

And we the little ass. 
That to God's holy city 

Together we may pass. 

Dr. Neale's two translations from the famous hymn 



THE HYMN-WKITEES 119 

"Hora Novissima/' by Bernard of Cluny, have attained 
great popularity. '^ Jerusalem the golden" (612) was 
taken from that part of "Hora Novissima" beginning 
^'Urbs Syonaurea, Patria lactea;" and ^Tor thee, 
dear, dear country" (614), from the part beginning 
''0 bona patria, lumina sobria." ^'Christ is made the 
sure Foimdation" (662) is Dr. Neale's translation of 
that part of the hymn ''Angularis Fundament um" 
beginning '^Urbs beata Hierusalem," the original 
authorship of which is still in doubt. 

The greatest of all Latin hymns, ''Dies Irse," by 
Thomas of Celano, has inspired two of our hjnnns, 
''Day of wrath, dreadful day" (599), by Dean Ar- 
thur P. Stanley, and "The day of wrath, that dread- 
ful day" (603), by Sir Walter Scott, which are the most 
popular of the hundred and sixty English translations 
of this hynm that are known. Two fifths of these 
translations of "Dies Irae" were made in America; 
one man, A. Coles, wrote twelve of them. The most 
recent is "Day of ire, that direful day," from "Early 
Christian Hymns," by Judge Daniel J. Donahoe. 
While Dean Stanley's is a true translation. Sir Walter 
Scott's contains so much that is original in tone that it 
is regarded practically as an original hymn. 

"Come, Holy Ghost, in love" is Dean Stanley's 
translation of "Veni, Sancte Spiritus," the authorship 
of which is sometimes attributed to King Robert II of 
France, although over this question hymnologists are 
still breaking lances. 

"Creator, Spirit! by whose aid" (194) is a famous 
translation by the poet John Dryden from "Veni, 



120 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

Creator Spiritus, Nantes tuorum visita," which tradi- 
tion vaguely and probably incorrectly attributes to 
Charlemagne. 

The most tender of all of our Latin hymns is the 
''Jesu, dulcis memoria/' by Bernard of Clairvaux, 
which has inspired three of our present hymns, ''Jesus, 
the very thought of thee" (533), translated by Edward 
M. Caswell, and ''Jesus, thou Joy of loving hearts" 
(536), translated by Ray Palmer; the third (289) 
being treated upon a subsequent page among the 
hymns coming from the Latin through the German. 
The first of these two direct translations is widely 
used by English Methodists; but not the second. Li 
fact, with this exception, all of the foregoing Latin 
translations have long been in use in the Wesleyan 
Church. Our Wesleyan brothers across the sea make 
use of Oake ley's translation of "Adeste fideles, laeti 
triumphantes," while we use Caswell's translation, "0 
come, all ye faithful, triumphantly sing" (125). Over 
forty English translations of this hymn are known. 
None of the subsequent Latin translations here men- 
tioned are in the new Wesleyan Methodist Hymn 
Book. 

"Near the cross was Mary weeping" (154)^ was 
translated by J. W. Alexander from the famous 
"Stabat Mater dolorosa," which has been set to music 
by many famous composers, such as Palestrma, Per- 
golesi, Haydn, Rossini, and Dvorak. The hymn is 
usually ascribed to Pope Innocent III (1216) on some- 



i"The Latin Hymns of the Wesleyan Methodist Hymn Book," by 
Frederic W. MacdOnald, London, 1899. 



THE HYMN-WRITERS 121 

what dubious evidence; but was not authorized for 
public use until 1727 by Pope Benedict XIII. It is 
part of a larger poem in three divisions for use re- 
spectively in Vespers, Matins, and Lauds; and of the 
full text twenty-three translations are mentioned by 
Julian. 

Of the history of the Latin chants in the Appendix 
to the Hymnal we shall not here pause to speak, 
though it is a subject full of interest to the scholar who 
wishes fully to acquaint himself with Roman hym- 
nody. 

Our beautiful hymn (483) : 

My God, I love thee, not because 
I hope for heaven thereby, 

is E. M. Caswell's translations of Saint Francis 
Xavier's ''0 Deus, ego amo Te; Nee amo Te ut 
salves me." Many believe that the Latin was founded 
upon Saint Theresa's Spanish hymn, '^No me mueve, 
mi Dios, para quererte." 

This flow of thought through several languages has 
produced many of our best hymns. Just as the last 
mentioned hymn came from the Spanish through 
Latin into English, so many of our hymns have come 
from the Latin through the German, and a few of 
these have had their source in a fourth language 
higher than the Latin, as the Greek or the Hebrew. 
The original "Gloria in Excelsis," for instance, was 
first uttered (probably in the Aramaic) by the angels 
that hovered over the hills of Bethlehem that first 
Christmas morning. At length it came to bo written 



122 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

by the apostle in the Greek Testament, as in Luke 2. 
14. This passage was expanded into an early Greek 
hymn of many verses, from which came the famous 
Latin version by Saint Theodulph (referred to above) . 
From this the ''Gloria in Excelsis" among the chants 
of our Hymnal is a direct translation in prose. Nico- 
laus Decius, in the sixteenth century, translated this 
into German from the Latin, thus: "Allein Gott in 
der Hoh' sei Ehr" et seq. From this German version 
Catherine Winkworth has produced our hymn, "To 
God on high be thanks and praise" (93). A direct 
translation from the Scriptures of this first Christmas 
hymn is heard in Handel's "Messiah," to the trium- 
phant music of the chorus, "Glory to God in the high- 
est." 

Likewise Anthony W. Boehm, at the beginning of 
the eighteenth century, made a German translation of 
"Jesu, dulcis memoria," which was the basis of our 
well-known hymn "Of Him, who did salvation bring" 
(289). Thus also came our lines "0 sacred Head, now 
wounded" (151), translated by J. W. Alexander from 
the German "0 Haupt voU Blut und Wunden," which, 
in turn, Paul Gerhardt had translated from the Latin 
of Bernard of Clairvaux, "Salve caput crumentatum." 

The most famous of the German hymns is "Ein' 
feste Burg," written by Luther, who also composed the 
melody for this chorale. This was sung over Luther's 
grave at the Schloss-Kirche, Wittenberg. Our trans- 
lation, "A mighty fortress is our God" (101), by 
Frederick H. Hedge, D.D., hardly outranks Thomas 
Carlyle's "A safe stronghold our God is still," of the 



THE HYMN-WKITERS 123 

Wesleyan Methodist Hymn Book. Sixty-three trans- 
lations of this hymn have been pubhshed. Another 
translation from Luther is our 'Tlung to the heedless 
winds/' by John A. Messenger. 

Nearly all of the principal English translators of the 
German h3mins are represented in our Hymnal. From 
our standpoint at least, John Wesley is the most 
important of them all. Of the nineteen hymns in the 
H3minal attributed to John Wesley, fourteen are 
translations from the German. Two of these are 
from the German hymns of Count Zinzendorf, the 
German mystic, 'Mesus, thy blood and righteousness" 
(148), and "0 thou, to whose all-searching sight" (359) , 
the latter a free translation from ^'Seelen Brautigam 
du Gotteslamm." John Wesley also translated the 
following: ^'High on his everlasting throne" (221), a 
free translation of Augustus G. Spagenberg's ^'Der 
Konig ruht, und shauet doch"; ^ 'Shall I, for fear of 
feeble man" (225), from John J. Winkler's ^'Sollt ich 
aus Furcht vor Menschenkindern" ; "My soul before 
thee prostrate lies," from the Rev. Dr. Christian F. 
Richter's "Hier legt mein Sinn sich vor dir nieder"; 
''Now I have found the ground wherein" (302), from 
Johann A. Rothc's "Ich habe nun den Grund gefun- 
den"; "I thank thee, uncreated Sun" (367), from 
Johann A. Schcffler's "Ich will dich lieben, meine 
Starke" ; "Into thy gracious hands I fall" (305), a few 
verses of the hymn beginning, "Jesus, whose glory's 
streaming rays," from Wolfgang C. Dessler's "Mein 
Jesu, dein die Seraphinen." 

Three of Paul Gcrhardt's hymns were translated by 



124 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

John Wesley: ''Jesus, thy boundless love to me" (333), 
from "0 Jesu Christ, mein schones Licht"; ''Commit 
thou all thy griefs" (435) and "Give to the winds thy 
fears" (437), both from "Befiehl due deine wege." 
Gerhardt's "0 du allersiisste Freude" was translated 
into our "Holy Ghost, dispel our sadness" (192), by 
John C. Jacobi, assisted by the alterations of Toplady. 
Wesley's "I thirst, thou wounded Lamb of God" (335) , 
was translated from two hymns, Zinzendorf's "Ach! 
mein verwundter Fiirste" and J. Nitschmann's "Du 
blutiger Versiihner." The complete cento included 
excerpts also from other hymns by Zinzendorf and 
Anna Nitschmann. 

From Gerhard Tersteegen's "Verborgne Gottesliebe 
du" John Wesley wrote "Thou hidden love of God, 
whose height" (345) ; and from his "Gott rufet noch, 
sollt ich nicht endlich horen," Jane Borthwick wrote 
"God calling yet! shall I not hear?" (252.) She also 
translated B. Schmolck's "Mein Jesu, wie du wilst" 
into our exquisitely beautiful "My Jesus, as thou 
wilt" (524). 

Catherine Winkworth's translations are recognized 
as among the most beautiful ever made into English 
h5niins. Without deviating far from the Grerman 
verbiage she preserves the strength and dignity of the 
original. Her seven translations in our Hymnal are 
but a small, though very choice, portion from her best 
work in this field. Her hymn, "Now thank we all our 
God," is but one of thirty translations by various 
authors from Martin Rinkart's "Nun danket alle 
Gott." Her other translations are: "Leave God to 



THE HYMN-WKITERS 125 

order all thy ways" (476), from Georg Neumark's 
*'Wer nur den lieben Gott lasst walten"; "Whsite'er 
my God ordains is right" (487), from Samuel Rodi- 
gast's ''Was Gott thut das ist wohlgethan, Es bleibt 
gerecht sein Wille." Two of her translations are 
from Petrus Herbert: ''Now God be with us" (58), 
from his "Die nacht is kommen darin wir ruhen 
sollen," and "Faith is a living power from heaven" 
(286), from "Der Glaub' ist ein lebendige kraft," 
which is a part of a larger hymn. Her " Fear not, 
little flock, the foe" (445) is from "Verzage nicht 
du Hauflein klein," by Jacob Fabricus. 

Carl J. P. Spitta's " selig Haus, wo man dich auf 
genommen" was translated by Mrs. Alexander into 
"0 happy home, where thou art loved the dearest" 
(671); and Richard Massie wrote "I know no life 
divided" (467), from a part of his German hjrnin, 
which begins, "0 Jesu, meine Sonne." 

Matthias Claudius wrote "Im Anfang war's auf 
Erden," which Miss Jane Campbell translated: "We 
plow the fields and scatter" (716). The first line of 
that most popular of all German Christmas carols, 
''Stille Nacht," in our H}Tnnal is "Silent night!" (123) 
though in many other hymnals it is "Holy night!" 
From "Beim friihen Morgenlicht" Caswell wrote 
"When morning gilds the skies" (32); from "Schon- 
ster Herr Jesu" came "Fairest Lord Jesus" (118). 

Nor does the relation of our hymns to foreign lan- 
guages end with the catalogue we have just recited. 
Many of these h)mins have been translated from the 
Greek and Latin and German into other foreign Ian- 



126 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

guages. Nearly' all of Count Zinzendorf s best hymns, 
for instance, along with many other Moravian hymns, 
have been translated from the original German into 
Danish, Dutch, French, Swedish, Esthonian, Letonian, 
Wendish, and several other languages, besides the 
English. 

But, what is of more interest to us, some of the best 
hymns originally framed in English have been trans- 
lated into other tongues. 'Take my life, and let it be" 
has been translated into French, German, Swedish, 
Russian, and several other languages of Europe and 
even of Africa. Its expression of humility has spared 
it from suffering the fate of the Russian translation of 
the gospel hymn, ''Hold the fort, for I am coming," 
which was officially censored by the government of 
Russia as being too revolutionary in sentiment. A 
study of many mission hymnals, that we have ex- 
amined, proves to us that we dare not attempt to 
sketch the linguistic fortunes of even one of the many 
international hymns, some of them passing into hun- 
dreds of alien languages and dialects on their errand 
of singing their great truths to the hearts of "every 
kindred, every tribe on this terrestrial ball." 

As a class the most scholarly translations from the 
English have been those turned into Latin. For in- 
stance, several Latin translations have been made of 
the hymn, "The church's one foundation" (207), the 
best being "Nobis unum est fundamen," by the Rev. 
E. Marshall, 1882, and "Qui Ecclesiam instauravit," 
by T. G. Godfrey-Faussett, 1878. This hymn has 
been translated into all the dominant modern Ian- 



THE HYMN-WEITEKS 127 

guages. The Latin version of "The King of love my 
Shepherd is" (136) that is best known is ''Rex amoris, 
ut pastoris"; and of ''When gathering clouds" (134), 
R. Bingham's "Quum circumcirca glomerantia nubilia 
cornam," wherein the sound of the Latin words seems 
to fit the rolling and rumbling of the clouds much 
better than the original English. The Rev. C. B. 
Pearson's translation of our hymn, " come, and 
mourn with me awhile" (152) begins with the line, 
"Adeste fideles, mecum complorantes" — a startling 
contrast to the well-known " Adeste fideles, laeti 
triumphantes." Mr. Gladstone was fond of render- 
ing into Latin as well as into Greek some of our best 
h3mms. Our " Rock of Ages" he made into "Jesu, 
pro me perforatus," and our hymn, "Art thou weary" 
(293), he began with the line, "Scis, te lassum? scis 
languentam? " Macgill's translation of the same 
hymn begins, "Sisne lassus serumnosus?" 

The titles of the hymns are truly a part of the 
story of the hymns, though our interest in them is not 
so great as in the tune titles, since the former are not 
given in the Methodist Hymnal as they were in the 
Hymnal of 1878. Even in the older Hymnal it was 
the exception to find the same title to a hymn under 
which it originally appeared. The reason for this 
lies partly in the fact that some of the old titles were 
very long and unwieldy, partly in the taste of succes- 
sive editors. For instance, originally our hymn 
"Author of faith" (298) was entitled, "The Life of 
Faith, Exemplified in the Eleventh Chapter of St. 



128 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews"; while ''Make haste, 
man, to live" (390) was entitled ''Live." Both 
titles were altered for the reason just cited. Another 
long title is, "God's gracious approbation of a re- 
ligious care of our families" (670). 

The occasional caprice that has determined tune 
titles is not evident in the h5mm titles. The great 
majority of hymns derive their titles, like other poems, 
from the thought of the words. Some, however, in 
their title declare the occasion of their inspiration, as 
"For the Anniversary Day of One's Conversion" (1), 
"Written before Preaching at Portland" (241), "An 
Apology for my Twilight Rambles Addressed to a 
Lady" (498), "After Preaching to the Newcastle 
Colliers" (643), the stories of which have already been 
told in a previous chapter. The following original 
titles speak for themselves: "Comfort in God under 
the Removal of Ministers or other Useful Persons by 
Death" (592), "For the Dedication of an Organ, or for 
a Meeting of Choirs" (27), "A Liturgy for Missionary 
Meetings" (60), "The Holy Catholic Church: the 
Communion of Saints" (207), written by a Catholic on 
the Ninth Article of the Creed. Toplady's title to our 
h5niin "Rock of Ages" (279), "A living and dying 
Prayer for the Holiest Believer in the World," was 
evidently intended for an answer to the doctrine that 
Christian perfection is attainable before death. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE THEOLOGY OF THE HYMNS 

Hymns as Teachers — False Doctrines to be Avoided — 
Our Hymnody a Restatement op Creed 

Hymns are eloquent teachers of doctrine. Some 
hymnologists have carelessly stated that true hymns 
should not teach theology. The statement needs 
qualifying. Art best achieves her purposes when she 
least appears to be consciously striving for them. 
Likewise hymns are often the most effective teachers 
when they least seem to be didactic. The h3nim- 
writer must assume the tone of prophet rather than 
logician, for syllogisms cannot be woven into the 
fabric of a hymn. Some of Isaac Watts's favorite 
h3mins have been strangled by over-dogmatism. 
Nevertheless, the body of our hymns contains all of 
the fundamental thought on which our religious 
system is built; and there is not an essential doctrine 
of our faith that cannot be found in the Hymnal. 

The influence of hymns as teachers of theology to 
the people can hardly be overestimated. Their very 
form is adapted to easy memorization. Clothed in 
language concise and chaste, swaying to the motion of 
rhythm, and rounded with rhyme, these poetical 
phrases that bear the great spiritual truths of the 
Church, when repeatedly sung to inspiring music, 
firmly fasten themselves upon the memories of the 
people. 

129 



130 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

William T. Stead, in his "H3niins that Have 
Helped," bears witness to the power of a h5niin once 
deeply lodged in his memory: *lt is Newton's hymn, 
which begins, 'Begone, imbelief .' I can remember my 
mother singing it when I was a tiny boy, barely able to 
see over the book-ledge in the minister's pew; and to 
this day, whenever I am in doleful dumps, and the 
stars in their courses appear to be fighting against me, 
that one doggerel verse comes back clear as a black- 
bird's note through the morning mist." An early 
American rhymed Psalter contains a quaint defense of 
the custom of setting the psalms to verse by insisting 
that verse is of lighter weight than the same bulk of 
prose, and therefore men find it easier to carry in their 
memories than prose. 

Furthermore, the hymn and its melody from their 
very nature tend to be more often repeated, not only 
in church worship but also in the home circle and in 
private devotion, than is the formal statement of 
belief, or the exposition of theology from the pulpit. 
Our favorite hymns thus become a part of ourselves, 
and thereby give expression to principles which, from 
our inner experience and study of the Word, we 
recognize to be true, although often without having 
previously defined them clearly in our thought. 

Martin Luther recognized this; and under his 
leadership hjmm-singing attained its first widespread 
popularity among the people. With all Germany 
singing the hjmins of justification by faith to the 
stately German chorales, the protest against the 
doctrines as well as the pernicious practices of Rome 



THE THEOLOGY OE THE HYMNS 131 

was given a mighty impetus. Luther confessed that 
he won more converts by the use of hymns than by 
preaching. Likewise the Wesleyan Revival made 
effective use of the h5nims of personal religious ex- 
perience, emphasizing the witness of the Spirit and the 
joyful assurance of acceptance. To those who see the 
work of a Divine Providence through all the advances 
of history it appears to have been no accident that 
both Luther and the Wesleys, especially Charles, were 
poets and musicians. Other men had recognized, and 
even preached, the same truths upon which the 
Reformation and the Wesleyan Revival were founded; 
but Luther and the Wesleys were given not only 
the power to preach and to organize the spread of 
these essential truths, but also the ability to express 
them in poetry and music. 

In the selection of hymns there are two distinct 
tendencies that mark the work of the Hymnal Com- 
mission; firstly, the exclusion of hymns that are non- 
Methodistic in doctrine, and, secondly, the decrease 
in the proportion of credal hymns. 

As to the first of these, let us inquire what are the 
non-Methodistic doctrines which find expression in 
h3TTin form. Professor Warren, in classifying the 
theology of Methodism, admits of only four great dis- 
tinct and complete Christo-theological systems, all 
others being incomplete or self-inconsistent.^ They 
are the Roman, the Calvinistic, the Lutheran, and the 
Wesleyan. Their differences are based upon ''the 

1 Of. "SystematischeTheologie/'einheitlich behandelt, von Wm. F. 
Warren, Bremen, 1865, and "'Centenary of Ameriean Methodism," 
by Abel Stevens, D.D., New York, 18G5. 



132 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

soteriological relations between God and man, as 
established by Christ." 

The Romanists teach the salvation of a soul through 
the priestly power and the works of the Papal Church, 
introducing essentially pagan elements into their 
worship. Their faith has foimd noble expression in a 
wonderful body of hymns, most of them in the Latin. 
Their doctrinal hymns have, of course, not been 
admitted to any Protestant hymnal in their original 
form; but it is interesting to note that one of the most 
stirring war songs of modern Protestantism was 
written by a Roman Catholic poet. Dr. Faber, and is 
still sung by Romanists in its original form: 

Faith of our fathers ! living still 

In spite of dungeon, fire, and sword. 

Oh! Ireland's heart beats high with joy, 
Whene'er they hear that glorious word. 

The third verse begins thus: 

Faith of our fathers! Mary's prayers 
Shall keep our country fast to thee! 

Calvinism teaches the salvation of a soul only 
through foreordination, or the free action of God, 
decreed before the foundation of the world. Against 
this dogma and its corollaries the early Methodist 
preaching hurled its most effective polemics. Ac- 
cordingly, the Commission found itself under especial 
obligation to avoid those hymns which suggested the 
irresistible decrees of God, electing the souls of men to 
future life or future punishment without relation to 
character, and to admit in their stead those hymns 



THE THEOLOGY OF THE HYMNS 133 

which clearly teach the salvability of all souls accept- 
ing the salvation freely offered to all. 

As a distinct reaction against the tenets of Calvin- 
ism have developed the doctrines of Universalism, 
teaching that all souls are to be ultimately saved ; and 
of Unitarianism, which has added to this the denial of 
the triune nature of God, and the consequent divine 
nature of Christ, as the only begotten Son of the 
Father. The atonement conditional only upon its 
acceptance, and other doctrines dear to Methodists, 
were thus denied. In their anxiety to escape any 
suggestion of Unitarianism, the Commission took 
slight offense at the phrase addressing the Deity as 
^ ^Eternal Soul" in Richard Watson Gilder's hymn (14), 
and Mr. Gilder, by vote of the Commission, was re- 
quested to change that phrase, which he naturally 
refused to do. 

The exclusion of Calvinistic and Unitarian doctrines 
from the Hymnal has not fostered any prejudice 
against sacred poets of these faiths, as is attested by 
the great popularity throughout Methodism of the 
hymns, ''In the cross of Christ I glory," by Sir John 
Bowring, and "Nearer, my God, to thee," by Sarah 
Flower Adams, both Unitarians, and also ''Rock of 
Ages," by Augustus M. Toplady, the Calvinistic 
clergyman, who conducted such a bitter controversy 
with John Wesley. 

Lutheran theology has made the salvation of the 
world largely dependent upon the proper use of the 
means of grace, the Word, and the sacraments, thus 
overemphasizing the forms of the Church and their 



134 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

eflScacy. Methodism has not been obUged to combat 
Lutheran doctrine so vigorously as Romanism and 
Calvinism, partly because the latter two systems have 
presented a greater contrast to the Wesleyan system 
than the former, and partly because Methodism and 
Lutheranism have not thrived so largely upon the 
same soil. Nevertheless, Methodist hymnology neces- 
sarily cannot teach the sufficiency of the means of 
grace in themselves, but instead must present the 
Church as a militant body of worshipers and witnesses, 
the Word as a shining light illumining divine truth 
(a figure employed in almost every hymn classed 
under 'The Holy Scriptures"), and the sacraments as 
a means of expressing and stimulating Christian faith. 
Neither attendance upon the church and its sacra- 
ments nor the reading of the Word in itself insures 
salvation. Our hymn (330) 

My hope is built on nothing less 
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness, 

rebels against this teaching of salvation through the 
means of grace. 

In contrast to Romanism, Calvinism, and Lutheran- 
ism, the doctrine of Methodism, and, consequently, its 
hymnody, has taught that the salvation of a soul 
depends on ''his own free action in respect to the 
enlightenment, renewing, and sanctifying inworkings 
of the Holy Spirit." The phrase, Wesleyan doctrine, 
is not to be taken as including all of the beliefs held by 
the greatest Methodist hymn-writer, Charles Wesley; 
for there are a few points wherein he differed from 



THE THEOLOGY OF THE HYMNS 135 

his contemporaries and successors. Many of Charles 
Wesley's h>Tnns were excluded from the Hymnal 
which would have commended themselves to the 
Church but for their imdue emphasis of the "second 
blessing/' The Commission was exceedingly cautious 
in admitting hymns upon sanctification that they 
might be thoroughly sound and orthodox. As a foil 
to rampant fanaticism on this subject, some of the 
Southern members of the Commission urged the 
omission from the Contents of the separate classifica- 
tion, "Entire Consecration and Perfect Love." But, 
since sanctification is clearly a sound Wesleyan 
doctrine, the Commission at length was content to 
admit twenty-eight hymns to this section, in which 
the Methodist Episcopal Church in the preceding 
Hymnal had used seventy, and the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South, forty-five. Most of these 
twenty-eight express a yearning, a hope, a prayer for 
sanctification. Eighteen were written by Charles 
Wesley and three are translations by John Wesley. 
So modified is the expression of this doctrine under 
"Entire Consecration and Perfect Love," that this 
section raises the question as to the proper classifi- 
cation of some of the hymns. Nevertheless, our 
hynms have not slighted the orthodox doctrine 
of the Holy Spirit, as an illuminating, sin-dis- 
pelling, soul-warming influence, the Third Person of 
the Godhead. 

Some hymns were brought to the attention of the 
Commission but not admitted to the Hymnal because 
of their teaching as to the second coming of Christ. 



136 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

While Charles Wesley has hinted at this in his h5nnns, 

Methodism holds the belief that the Gospel through 

the Holy Spirit will conquer the world without the 

reincarnation of Christ. The Seventh-Day Advent- 

ists have transformed our Christmas Hymn into a 

hymn upon the second coming of Christ by singing it 

thus: 

" Joy to the world ! the Lord vrill come, 
Let earth receive her King." 

Likewise other classes of hymns were avoided, not 
so much because they involved questionable doctrine 
as because they offended delicacy, or genuine spon- 
taneous spiritual emotion, or sincerity of thought. 
The sentimental hymn is excluded from the Hymnal 
and left for what the Preface styles as ''those un- 
authorized publications that often teach what organ- 
ized Methodism does not hold." Again, the hynms 
in the ancient style of dwelling upon the physical 
tortures of the lost are fortunately no longer in use, 
such as: 

Eternal plagues and heavy chains, 
Tormenting racks and fiery coals, 

And darts t' inflict immortal pains. 
Dipt in the blood of damned souls. 

The overascetic tone of some of the older hjTnns has 
not been regarded as being in accord with the full, 
rich life which should belong to an active Christian. 
Hence Methodism sings no more the doleful verses 
beginning, "How vain are all things here below!" 
which Isaac Watts wrote in a fit of despondency, in- 
duced by a young woman's refusal of his offer of 



THE THEOLOGY OF THE HYMNS 137 

marriage. John Newton's ''Let worldly minds the 

world pursue" is another of the many h)Tnns dropped 

from the preceding HjTnnals for this reason. Nor do 

American Methodists longer sing as of yore Charles 

Wesley's lines: 

Thou such mercy hast bestowed 
On me, the vilest reptile, me. 

Modem taste revolts at the idea of a snake-like 
humanity. 

Literal references to the substitutional elements 
have been avoided, which make too prominent the 
physical side of Christ's death at the expense of the 
deeper significance of his sacrifice. These were the 
chief doctrinal tests by which hymns were excluded, 
besides the literary deficiencies, which, as will be 
shown in the next chapter, caused the veto of most of 
the excluded hymns. 

The second tendency, distinctly traceable in the 
work of the Hymnal Commission, is the decrease in the 
relative number of credal hymns and the increase in 
the proportion of the hjmns of practical religious life. 
Indeed, the whole trend of modern hymn-writing is 
away from the ultra-dogmatism, exemplified by Isaac 
Watts, and toward the expression of worship, devo- 
tion, and the joys of personal experience. Christian 
activity has been emphasized more than Christian 
belief. 

While on the negative side we have thus noted the 
banishment of non-Methodistic doctrine and, indeed, 
a decided decrease in the body of distinctly doctrinal 
hymns, there is upon the positive side a statement of 



138 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

practically all of the essential Wesleyan doctrines in 
our canons of sacred poetry. In her early days, when 
bitter controversy was rife, Methodism was obliged to 
stoutly defend the theological tenets of John Wesley 
and his fellow-preachers against the contentions of op- 
posing doctrines. While the rationale of the Wesleyan 
theological system has not altered since it was uttered 
by John Wesley, the spirit of the Church has advanced 
and its vision has broadened, but always in a manner 
to confirm rather than discredit the logic of our orig- 
inal doctrines. This can hardly be said of other 
evangelical denominations, whose creeds have suffered 
radical alteration. 

In the opinion of many the most able statement in 
recent years of Methodist creed, contained within the 
small compass of three hundred words, is that uttered 
by Bishop Andrews in the Episcopal Address of 1900, 
and effectively quoted by Bishop Goodsell in the 
Episcopal Address of 1908. Here, in concise and 
beautiful language, is presented the faith of Method- 
ism, every phrase and almost every word being 
freighted with great meaning. In order to show tow 
fully our hymns coincide with our faith, we present in 
parallel columns each phrase of the creed and a line 
from some corresponding hymn, expressing the same 
thought. The numbers in parenthesis refer to the 
hymn from which the line is quoted : 

Bishop Andrews's Creed Theology of the Hymns 

We believe in one living and God is the name my soul 
personal God, adores, 

The almighty Three, the 
eternal One (80). 



THE THEOLOGY OF THE HYMNS 



139 



Bishop Andrews's Creed 

the Father Almighty, who in 
perfect wisdom, 



holiness, and love pervades, 
sustains, and rules the world 
which he has made. 



Theology of the Hymns 

No earthly father loves like 

thee (86). 
God is wisdom, God is love 

(88). 
The one Almighty Father 

(567). 

Perfect in power, in love, and 

purity (78). 
Thy voice produced the sea 

and spheres (80). 
Rules the bright worlds, and 

moves their frame (80). 



We believe in Jesus Christ, 
his only Son our Lord, 

in whom dwelt all the full- 
ness of the Godhead bodily. 

who was in glory with the 
Father before all worlds; 



who became flesh and dwelt 
among us, 

the brightness of the glory of 
God and the express image 
of his person; 



who died for sin, the just for 
the imjust. 



that he might bring man to 
God; 



True Son of the Father (125) . 
Lord and Master of us all 
(128). 

True Godhead Incarnate, 
OnmipotentWord (125). 

Who from the Father's 
bosom came (148). 

Thou didst leave thy throne 
(122). 

Pleased as man with men to 
appear (111). 

His head with radiant glories 

crowned (135) 
The Father's coeternal Son 

(153). 
Veiled in flesh the Godhead 

see (111). 

Bore all my sins upon the 

tree (153). 
And on his sinless soul 
Our sins in all their guilt 

were laid (155). 

Is crucified for me and you, 
To bring us rebels back 
to God (153). 



140 



MUSIC AND HYMNODY 



Bishop Andrews's Creed 
who rose from the dead : 



who ascended on high, 

having received all power 
in heaven and earth, 

for the completion by grace 
and judgment of the kingdom 
of God. 



Theology of the Hymns 

Our Lord is risen from the 

dead (158). 
The Lord is risen indeed; 
The grave hath lost its 

prey (157). 

Jesus, King of glory, is gone 
up on high (175). 

Jesus rules the world (177). 

The Lord Jehovah reigns, . . 
His truth confirms and seals 
the grace (81). 

Born to raise the sons of 

earth 
Born to give them second 

birth (HI). 



We believe in the Holy 
Ghost, 

very and eternal God, 

by whose operation on men 
dead in trespasses and 
sin they are quickened to 
repentance, faith, 



and loving obedience; 



are made aware of their son- 
ship with God, 



Come, Holy Ghost, our 
hearts inspire (181). 

O Spirit of the living God! 
(188.) 

Thy Spirit can from dross 

refine, 
And melt and change this 

heart of mine (274) . 

Whose Spirit breathes the 
active flame, Faith 
(298). 

Spirit of faith, come down 
(191). 

Holy Spirit, . . . 
Reign supreme and reign 
alone (185). 

His Spirit answers to the 

blood, 
And tells me I am bom of 

God (301). 



THE THEOLOGY OF THE HYMNS 141 
Theology of the Hymns 



Bishop Andrews's Creed 

and are empowered to rise 
into the full stature of men in 
Jesus Christ. 



Thy sanctifying Spirit . . . 
Make me pure from sin (378) . 



We believe in the impartial 
love of God to the whole 
human family, 

so that none are excluded 
from the benefits thereof, 

except as they exclude them- 
selves by willful unbelief and 
sin. 



And whosoever cometh 
I will not cast him out 
(295). 

And pledged the blood divine 
To ransom every soul of 
man (243). 



Will 



ye slight His grace, and 
die? (247.) 



We believe that faith in 
Christ, the self-surrender of 
the soul to his government 
and grace, is the one condi- 
tion upon which man is re- 
conciled to God, is born 
again, 



becomes partaker of the Di- 
vine Nature and attains 
sanctification through his 
Spirit. 



We accept the moral law, 
confirmed and perfected by 
the Divine Teacher, 



Give me the faith, that casts 

out sin, 
And purifies the heart 

(358). 
By faith I plunge me in this 

sea; 
Here is my hope, my joy, 

my rest (302). 
My God is reconciled! (301.) 
And tells me I am born of 

God (301). 

Rooted and fixed in God 
(375). 

Come, Holy Ghost, for thee I 
call . . . 

My steadfast soul, from fall- 
ing free. 
Shall then no longer move 
(375). 

I read my duty in thy word; 

But in thy hfe the law ap- 
pears. 

Drawn out in living charac- 
ters (140). 



142 



MUSIC AND HYMNODY 



Bishop Andrews's Creed 

and set forth authoritatively 
in the Holy Scriptures, 



and we believe in the eternal 
consequences of good and 
evil iniierent in the constitu- 
tion of the human soul, and 
declared with the utmost 
solemnity by him, the final 
Judge of human life. 



Theology of the Hymns 

Thy word is everlasting 
truth; 
How pure is every page I 
That holy book shall guide 
. . . (204). 

Assured if I my trust betray, 
I shall forever die (388). 

And bid his guilty conscience 

dread 
The death that never dies 

(245). 



There are some lesser points of belief, or shades of 
meaning, in the Apostles' Creed that Bishop Andrews's 
creed does not specifically express, but which are 
clearly taught in our hymns. The Virgin Birth, for in- 
stance, is celebrated in hymns 111, 112, 117, 123, and 
125. The resurrection of the body is taught in hymn 
586, without prejudice upon the theological debate 
as to whether or not it is to be a physical or a spiritual 
body into which men shall be raised. In the following 
columns we have set corresponding hymns opposite 
some of the familiar phrases of the Apostles' Creed, not 
emphasized in Bishop Andrews's creed. 



Apostles' Creed 
Christ, the only Son 

Suffered (under Pontius Pi- 
late). 

Was crucified, dead and 
buried. 



Theology of the Hymns 

Of the Father's Godhead 
true and only Son (166). 

Pierced and nailed him to the 
tree (601). 

So Jesus slept: God's dying 

Son 
Passed through the grave, 

and blessed the bed 

(586). 



THE THEOLOGY OF THE HYMNS 



143 



Apostles' Creed 
The third day he rose. 

Sitteth on the right hand of 
God. 

From thence he shall come to 
judge the quick and the dead. 

The holy CathoHc Church. 

The Communion of saints. 



The forgiveness of sins. 

The resurrection of the body. 

Life everlasting. 



Theology of the Hymns 

'Tis thine own third morn- 
ing, 
Rise, O buried Lord (166). 

He sits at God's right hand 
(178). 

Christ is coming! (602.) 
Thou awful Judge of quick 
and dead (600). 

One holy Church, one army 
strong (209). 

O blest communion, fellow- 
ship divine! 

We feebly struggle, they in 
glory shine; 

Yet all are one in thee, for 
all are thine (430). 

Praise him, who pardons all 
our sin (20). 

A glorious form 
Shall then ascend to meet 
the Lord (586). 

All meet thee in the blessed 
home above, 



of 



Thy everlasting home 
peace and love (671). 

In God's Hkeness, man 
awaking 

Knows the everlasting 
peace (160). 

Thus all the main points of our theology are ex- 
pressed in our hymns; and the great doctrines of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church are being chanted 
in the music of the sanctuary. 



CHAPTER VII 
THE LITERARY BEAUTIES OF THE HYMNS 

Real Hymns, True Poems— Legitimate Emotions — 
Diction and Imagery — Rhythm and Meter 

A RECENT work on hymnology proposes this state- 
ment: ''A hymn is not necessarily a poem, while a 
poem that can be sung as a hymn is something more 
than a poem. Imagination makes poems; devotion 
makes hymns. There can be poetry without emotion, 
but a hymn never. A poem may argue ; a hymn must 
not." This passage is based upon a false conception 
of the true nature of poetry. It is not difficult to 
carry to the inevitable false conclusion the proposition 
that not all sacred poems are hymns, even those cast 
in the usual hymn meters. But in order to prove that 
good hymns are not always poems one must assume 
an unworthy definition for hymns, as well as for 
poetry. 

There can be no true poetry without emotion. One 
of the members of our Hymnal Commission, Dr. C. T. 
Winchester, professor of English literature in Wes- 
leyan University, has treated of the emotional element 
in poetry in his work on literary criticism.* After 
quoting as representative of the modern conception 
the definitions of poetry uttered by Wordsworth, 
Shelley, Emerson, Browning, Leigh Hunt, Clarence 
Stedman, and Coleridge, all of whom recognized the 

1 "The Elements of Literary CWticism," by Caleb T. Winchester, litt.Doo. 
144 



LITEEAEY BEAUTIES OF THE HYMNS 145 

emotional element as essential to poetry, he expresses 
the results of their thought in the following passage: 
"We may define poetry as that variety of the literature 
of emotion which is written in metrical form. Or, aban- 
doning the strictly logical style of definition, we may 
say that poetry is that form of literature whose pur- 
pose is to appeal to the emotions, and which is written 
in metrical form." 

A true hymn must be expressive of emotion, and 
somewhat in a universal sense, even though it be 
primarily the expression of a personal emotion. But 
this in itself is not enough. If the writer lack the 
ability or the inspiration for poetic expression, his 
most intense emotion may result in mere doggerel, 
as is too often the result. Such unpoetical rhymings, 
when uttering a great spiritual truth, may even pro- 
duce a certain quality of emotion among the young 
or those who are ignorant in literary taste. As an 
example of the former, we find in William T. Stead's 
book, "Hymns that Have Helped, '^ the following 
verses, which helped him most as a boy : 

His love in times past 

Forbids me to think 
He'll leave me at last 

In trouble to sink. 
Each sweet Ebenezer 

I have in review 
Confirms his good pleasure 

To help me quite through. 

In spite of its bad rhyme and questionable logic, which 
his later tastes would condemn, these verses still recur 
to him with all of their helpful associations from his 



146 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

early days as a source of comfort to him now. The 
principle of association of ideas will psychologically 
explain the fondness that many of us bear toward 
some hymns, in themselves altogether unworthy of 
admiration. They are linked with stirring episodes 
in our lives, or else have held a very dear place in our 
hearts before the time when our minds were awakened 
to the real beauties of literature. But this peculiarly 
personal fondness for a poor hymn is no argument 
whatsoever for its use in public worship; and against 
this danger we must conscientiously guard. As for 
those who are unable or unwilling to recognize the 
emotional content of a hymn, and are constantly 
foisting upon congregations and religious assemblies 
the latest batch of doggerel, meaningless for the most 
part, and awaking only the emotions of ridicule or pity 
among thoughtful people, their case seems to be as 
hopeless as it is illogical. It is not enough that a 
hymn be wrought out of some intense emotional 
experience; it must have the power to reproduce 
emotion, and, from the very nature of a true hymn, its 
appeal to the emotions must be more or less universal. 
When we add to this emotional quality the necessity 
of meter and rhythm, and these especially restricted 
to the most regular forms because of the demands of 
the music, we cannot escape the conclusion that good 
hymns must be poems. They form but a subdivision 
of that department of literature defined as sacred 
poetry. In general, it may be said that examples of 
nearly all the emotions expressed in other religious 
poetry may be found among the true hymns. But 



LITERARY BEAUTIES OF THE HYMNS 147 

the most effective hymns avoid some of the emotions, 
upon which broader forms of sacred poetry may dwell 
with propriety. Wherein much sacred poetry differs 
from the hymns may be seen as this discussion unfolds. 

Let us consider first the emotions which can be 
legitimately expressed by a hymn. In the first place, 
hymns may express the elemental emotions of either 
joy or grief. But in expressing or exciting grief 
through contemplation of the divine passion, through 
sorrow for sins, or through the suggestion of mourning 
for the dead, a hymn does not serve the highest emo- 
tional purpose in making grief a finality. It must at 
least direct the mind toward joy and its sources, such 
as our redemption through the cross, forgiveness of 
sins, and the higher meaning of sorrow and of the life 
beyond the grave. The following hynms are selected 
from many that beautifully illustrate the joyful pur- 
pose of a sorrowful hymn: *'0 sacred Head now 
wounded" (151), "Return, wanderer, return" (255), 
"Weep not for a brother deceased" (594). Most 
Christian hjnims may be said to be written throughout 
in the strain of profound joy; but where this joy is 
superficial and thoughtless, as in many a camp-meet- 
ing chorus, the effect is somatic rather than spiritual, 
and the reaction that follows is usually harmful. 

Coming to the more complex and specialized forms 
of emotion, hymns may legitimately express such 
emotions as love, humility, sympathy, confidence or 
peace, and the feeling of social unity; but almost 
never their opposites — hatred, pride, scorn or ridicule, 
fear, and loneliness. In poems of wider scope, treat- 



148 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

ing of sacred themes, as Milton's ^'Paradise Lost/' and 
Bickersteth's *' Yesterday, To-day, and Forever," some 
of these opposites may be portrayed in the course of 
the narrative, though never as a dominant emotion. 

Among the abstract sentiments hynmology ex- 
presses nearly the whole gamut of these emotions. 
The feelings, arising respectively from the perception 
of Truth, of Beauty, and of Right, may all be — indeed, 
should all be — stirred simultaneously in the singing of 
a hymn, each awakened by a different element of the 
h3niin. In so far as the intellect perceives that the 
language of the hymn declares Truth, the pleasure of 
the logical element is stirred. In so far as the poem 
and its music appeal to our tastes as an artistic work of 
real Beauty our aesthetic pleasure is stimulated. In so 
far as we recognize the hymn as clearly pointing to us 
the path of our personal duty our moral sentiments 
are aroused. A defect in any one of these elements, 
an error from truth, an inartistic expression in poetry 
or music, a moral blemish in the thought, will at once 
vitiate the effect of the whole hymn in proportion as 
the defect is recognized; for, if any one of these senti- 
ments is outraged, it will serve to create a sense of 
incongruity, an emotional discord, that is fatal to the 
very purpose of hymn-singing. 

The sense of ridicule rather than devotion is aroused 
by the incongruity of such lines as the ancient hymn 
verse, known to some of our grandfathers : 

Ye monsters from the bubbling deep, 

Your Master's praises spout; 
And from the sands ye coddlings peep, 

And wag your tails about. 



LITERARY BEAUTIES OF THE HYMNS 149 

A generation that laid especial stress upon future 
eternal punishment produced this horrible verse, by 
Wigglesworth, on heathen and infant damnation : 

They wring their hands, their caitiff hands, 
Aiid gnash their teeth for terror, 

They cry, they roar for anguish sore, 
And gnaw their tongues for horror. 

This revolting picture, besides shocking the imagina- 
tion, outrages our sense of truth and divine justice in 
consigning infants and heathen to suffer infinite tor- 
ture because of the limitations of their age or environ- 
ment. 

Likewise those hymns that exhort to holiness for 
the sake of the rewards after death excite our con- 
tempt because, however beautiful they may be in 
other respects, they fall far short of the high ethical 
motives for holiness that Saint Francis Xavier ex- 
pressed in the ancient hymn : 

My God, I love thee, not because 

I hope for heaven thereby, 
Nor yet because, if I love not, 

I must forever die. 

In each of these examples of faulty hynms the emo- 
tional defect has made it impossible for use. A 
necessary condition for all literary excellence in 
poetry, and a necessary condition for the highest 
spiritual dynamics in hymn-singing, is the blending 
of all the emotions involved into a harmonious unity. 
Professor George A. Coe in his psychological study, 
^'The Spiritual Life," has uttered a forceful protest 
against the temperamental interpretation of the 



150 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

Christian life, such as is too often presented by the 
Church. In a brief but valuable passage on "some 
psychological aspects of hymnology" he has shown 
how this one-sidedness is reflected in our hymns. 
Declaring that a difference in the quality of emotion 
is of much greater importance than a difference in 
intensity, he classifies the h5nmns according to their 
emotional attitude into two divisions. The first, by 
far the greatest in volume, represents the subjective 
attitude, the treatment of the religious life from the 
standpoint of personal experience, of introspection, of 
self -consciousness. The second, which by its paucity 
of expression seems to be greatly neglected, is the ob- 
jective attitude, the expression of the religious life in 
practical activities, in good works, in Christian deeds. 
His statistics, based upon the former Methodist 
Episcopal Hymnal, prove a better case than can be 
shown by the present Hymnal, for the Joint Hymnal 
Commission seems to have had his criticism somewhat 
in mind. We still find, however, that of the total 
number of hymns only 269 are under the heading of 
"Christian Activity and Zeal" (nearly one fifth more 
of the whole than the old Hymnal contained). The 
hymns of "Christian Activity" in the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South, Hymnal appear to be in 
about the same proportion as in the Methodist Episco- 
pal Hymnal examined by Professor Coe. Of the forty- 
seven hymns on "Christian Activity" in the old Method- 
ist Episcopal Hymnal he found only nine treating 
"Activity" subjectively, directing the attention to the 
things to be done, to the activity itself; and thirty- 



LITEEAKY BEAUTIES OF THE HYMNS 151 

two treating ' 'Activity' ' subjectively from the stand- 
point of one's emotions during activity, while six were 
mixed or indeterminate. 

Examples of objective treatment of ' 'Activity" are: 
"Forward! be our watchword" (384), "Hark, the voice 
of Jesus calling" (402), the second verse of which was 
added in the new Hymnal to the two verses in both 
the old Hymnals: 

If you cannot cross the ocean, 

And the heathen lands explore, 
You can find the heathen nearer, 

You can help them at your door. 
If you cannot give your thousands. 

You can give the widow's mite. 
And the least you give for Jesus 

Will be precious in his sight. 

Examples of subjective treatment of "Activity" 
are : "Am I a soldier of the cross" (393), dwelling upon 
blushes and fears and a study of the fighter's emotions 
rather than the activity itself: "Workman of God! 
lose not heart" (392), and "Awake, our souls! away, 
our fears!" (405,) cheering against "trembling 
thought," mortal spirits that tire and faint, "native 
strength" that "shall melt away, and droop, and die." 

It is not to be assumed that such hymns as these 
last, treating activity subjectively, are false in their 
emotion, or are undesirable in a hymn collection. 
Only the great disproportion between these and the 
other class of hynrns on "Activity" itself is to be 
deplored. 

We find that eight of the nine hynrms in the old 
Methodist Episcopal Hymnal, treating "Activity" 



162 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

objectively are included in the new Hymnal; and 
most of the hymns treating ''Activity" subjectively 
have been dropped. Thus far there is a gain. But of 
the seventeen new hynms under this heading only 
three may be regarded as strictly objective. Sum- 
ming up these statistics, we find that less than one 
fifth of the hymns in the former book on ''Activity" 
are objective, but in the new Hynmal more than one 
quarter. 

In the old Hynmal the hymns dealing with any 
kind of church work form less than half of those 
classified under "The Church," in the new Hymnal 
they form two thirds of the hymns on the subjects 
formerly classified under "The Church." In the old 
Hjmanal the hymns on Christ's life and character 
formed less than ten per cent of the body of hymns on 
the subject of Christ; in the new Hymnal they form 
over twenty per cent. Thus, in the objective treat- 
ment of "Christian Activity," "The Church," and the 
life of Christ in the new Hymnal there has been a dis- 
tinct gain. That it is an insufficient gain is partly 
due to the scarcity of good objective hymns. 

While it is true that emotion is a criterion of good 
poetry, and, consequently, of good hymns, it is not 
begging the question to say that the intensity, and to 
some extent the quality, of the poetical emotion of a 
hymn is often determined by the poet's choice of 
words, for in the English language there are always 
many different ways of expressing the same spiritual 
truth. The legitimate vocabulary of hymns is greatly 
circumscribed in both of two opposite directions. At 



LITERAKY BEAUTIES OF THE HYMNS 153 

one extreme a great number of prosaic words, and a 
still greater number of prosaic phrases, perfectly 
legitimate in prose, are entirely out of place in poetry, 
and, therefore, in hymns. Their commonplace nature 
revolts against the art of hymnodic expression. At 
the other extreme there is a wealth of poetic diction, 
preciose words, ornate expressions, and elaborate, 
fanciful figures of speech, perfectly allowable in most 
poetry, but never in hymns. They dilute the spiritual 
emotion of the hymn, or divert the thought of conomon 
worship. 

Our Hymnal is singularly free from either vulgar or 
over-elaborate diction, because of the true hterary 
standards upon which the work of the Hymnal Com- 
mission is based. Nevertheless, within the limits of 
good taste both simple and elaborate methods may be 
observed in the literary style of our hymns. The 
older hymn-writers preferred the former method. 
Their hymns, that have survived to present-day use, 
are marked by the simple, familiar English phraseol- 
ogy, such as in the German vernacular Martin Luther 
commended and employed with great success. An 
examination of Isaac Watts's hymns will illustrate to 
the reader this simplicity of diction, in which most of 
the old Psalm translations were made. 

While Charles Wesley's vocabulary was much more 
extended that Watts's, even within the same number 
of hymns, it is largely confined to strong, simple words, 
though nearly always in the best and purest English, 
and in the less ambitious figures of speech. 

The conscious self-restraint of these two foremost 



154 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

hymn-writers of the eighteenth century is also to be 
observed in their contemporaries. This earUer school 
demonstrated that noble, majestic, thrilling hymns 
can be wrought out of simple words and figures. 
Possibly this may have given rise to the idea that 
hymns need not be poetic. Nevertheless, there is a 
true poetry in their austere chants that has stirred the 
spiritual emotions of many generations of men. 

The modern hjmin-writers, on the other hand, have 
greatly enlarged the vocabulary of hymnody, albeit 
within the bounds of propriety; and, furthermore, 
they have adopted a much wider range of imagery 
than their predecessors, who did not entirely scorn, 
however, the poetic figures of speech. 

Our hymns abound in rich imagery. The doctrinal 
thought is intensified by an appeal to the imagination 
through the memory of all five senses. The sense of 
hearing is representatively awakened in the lines: 

Far, far away, like bells at evening pealing, 
The voice of Jesus sounds o'er land and sea (621) ; 



of touch: 



of taste : 



of smell : 



Thy touch has still its ancient power (54) ; 

Jesus can make a dying-bed 

Feel soft as downy pillows are (Watts, 581) ; 



His purposes will ripen fast, 

Unfolding every hour : 
The bud may have a bitter taste. 

But sweet will be the flower (96) ; 



Our thoughts and thanks may rise 
As grateful incense to the skies (70) ; 



LITERAEY BEAUTIES OF THE HYMNS 155 

of sight : 

Enthroned amid the radiant spheres, 

He glory like a garment wears; 

To form a robe of light divine, 

Ten thousand suns around him shine (23). 

Through the vision of some bit of color the poet fre- 
quently portrays the deeper meaning of his thought. 
Thus we behold the royal richness of the coming of the 
morning: 

Still, still with thee, when purple morning breaketh (43) ; 

When morning gilds the skies (32). 

Redemption through sorrow flames in the lines: 

His blood-red banner streams afar (416), 
and 

I la}'- in dust life's glory dead, 
And from the ground there blossoms red 
Life that shall endless be (481) ; 

or the dazzling purity of the saints in heaven : 

Who are these arrayed in white 

Brighter than the noon-day sun? (619.) 

In the night scenes of the Hynmal our sacred poets 
have given to us some of the most beautiful imagery, 
that appeals to the sense of vision. What a picture 
Walter Scott has made of Israel's Divine Guide through 
the wilderness! — 

By day, along th' astonished lands, 

The cloudy pillar glided slow; 
By night, Arabia's crimsoned sands 

Returned the fiery column's glow (95). 



166 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

The heavenly firmament by night, that inspired the 
second verse of Addison's hymn, 

Soon as the evening shades prevail, 

The moon takes up the wondrous tale (84), 

and Sir Robert Grant's hymn (203), employing the 
selfsame imagery, gives beauty to the thought of these 
lines: 

Thou who hast sown the sky with stars, setting thy thoughts 
in gold (714). 

Wait and worship, while the night 
Sets her evening lamps alight 
Through all the sky (57). 

He paints the wayside flower 
He Hghts the evening star (716). 

Something of the wonder of night is deepened in the 
poetic descriptions of the first Christmas night, as in 
the old carol, "Silent Night," or J. G. Holland's poem, 
"And the star rains its fire while the beautiful sing" 
(112). Contrasted with this stands the loneliness of 
night: 

Cold mountains and the midnight air 
Witness the fervor of thy prayer (140), 

and the symbolism of darkness: 

Thy tender mercies shall illume 
The midnight of the soul (446), 

Our midnight is thy smile withdrawn (82), 

Ashamed of Jesus! sooner far 

Let evening blush to own a star (443). 

Charles Wesley's hyron, suggested by a night scene, 
"See how great a flame aspires" (643), abounds in 



LITERAKY BEAUTIES OF THE HYMNS 157 

imagery; but the figure is changed in each verse, and 
that which is represented by a fire in the first verse is 
sjmabolized by a shower in the last. 

There is a startling vividness in some of the exqui- 
site images in miniature : 

The lightning-rifts disclose his throne (686), 

The tumult of our life's wild restless sea (545), 

When trouble, like a gloomy cloud (539), 

The darksome prison-house of sin (654), 

Like some bright dream that comes unsought (537), 

A long familiarity with old hymns sometimes dulls our 
appreciation of their imagery, as for instance Addi- 
son's biographical metaphor: 

When in the slippery paths of youth 
With heedless steps I ran (105), 

and Sir John Bowring's thrilling lines: 

In the Cross of Christ I glory. 
Towering o'er the wrecks of time (143). 

Much of the familiar, rich imagery of the Scriptures 
has been embodied in our h3nims, adding to the 
beauty and strength of the thought. The Scriptures 
are represented as the "lamp of our feet" (205) ; the 
Eucharist, " Bread of heaven, wine of gladness " 
(235); aspiration, "As pants the hart for cooling 
streams" (316); and the Church, 

A mountain that shall fill the earth, 
A house not made with hands (214). 



158 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

Nathaniel P. Willis draws from Holy Writ his 

picture of creation : 

The mountains in their places stood, 
The sea, the sky; and all was good; 
And when its first pure praises rang, 
The morning stars together sang (660). 

Likewise Dr. Bickersteth's conception of life gives a 
biblical picture of the out-of-doors: 

Our years are like the shadows 

On sunny hills that lie, 
Or grasses in the meadows 

That blossom but to die (18). 

As hymns are essentially reflective or hortatory, 

they afford little opportunity for the description of 

people, or personal episodes. But the few touches 

of this description in the Hymnal are drawn with vigor 

and beauty. It is true poetry that can flash such 

clear pictures in so few w^ords as may be found in these 

lines: 

Where at sultry noon, thy Son 
Sat weary by the patriarch's well (12), 

When glory beamed from Moses' brow (187), 

In simple trust like theirs who heard. 

Beside the Syrian sea 
The gracious calling of the Lord (543). 

In the missionary hymns by a poetic touch of the 
imagination we are carried in a trice to distant lands. 
The realm of Mohammedanism is suggestively de- 
scribed thus: 

Where the lofty minaret 

Gleams along the morning skies, 
Wave it till the crescent set, 
And the Star of Jacob rise (640). 



LITERARY BEAUTIES OF THE HYMNS 159 

Within the compass of a few lines (655) Bishop Heber 
carries us to " Greenland's icy mountains/' ^India's 
coral strand," '^Where Afric's sunny fountains roll 
down their golden sand," "many an ancient river," 
"many an ancient palm," the land where "spicy 
breezes" "blow soft o'er Ceylon's isle"; in fact, sug- 
gesting the whole earth, through which the gospel 
must be borne until "it spreads from pole to pole," 

From the very limitations of hymnody there is, little 
freedom offered for dramatic development. A few of 
the hymns suggest dialogue in their questions and 
answers. "Watchman, tell us of the night" (636) is a 
dialogue throughout, each couplet alternately being 
the words of either the Traveler or the Watchman. 
This is marked by the device of placing the first word 
of each two lines in the vocative. Thus, we read : 

Watchman, tell us of the night, 
What its signs of promise are, 

to which the Watchman replies: 

Traveler, o'er yon mountain's height 
See that glory-beaming star! 

Thus the conversation proceeds dramatically through 
the whole hymn. 

Another hymn of questions and answers is the 
ancient Greek hymn (293) : 

Art thou weary, art thou languid, 
Art thou sore distressed? 

to which the reply comes with a flood of comfort and 

love: 

Come to me, saith One, and, coming, 
Be at rest. 



160 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

Each verse of the hymn is patterned after this 
design. 

In the Hymnal under the division 'The Gospel/' 
we find that the hynms sounding forth "The Need of 
Salvation" and "Warnings and Invitations" speak 
with dramatic emphasis. Eight of the first dozen 
hynms in this section ask startling questions to awaken 
the slumbering conscience. 

Charles Wesley's great hymn, "Come, thou 
Traveler unknown" is a thrilling drama in miniature; 
and, though the hymn utters the words of but one of 
the two wrestlers in that battle of love, the action 
throughout is intense, and the progress of the contest 
is followed at every step. 

The metrical forms into which is molded the 
poetry of hymns are comparatively few. This is due 
to the limitations of the hymn tunes, their musical 
form, and the impossibility of repeating words and 
phrases, as in song form, except in the refrain. A few 
unusual meters creep into our hymnody, for which 
tunes must be especially constructed, sometimes 
successfully, as "Lead, kindly Light," or "Be strong!" 
(407), and sometimes not so successfully. 

The stately hymn meters progress nearly always 
through lines of many syllables. Aside from the short 
meter poems (6. 6. 8. 6.), only a small percentage (less 
than eight per cent.) of the h3anns begin with a line less 
than seven syllables, while the average line of the 
whole collection is nearly eight. The rhythm is also 
marked with stateliness and dignity, as befitting the 



IITERAKY BEAUTIES OF THE HYMNS 161 

subjects of hymnody. With the exceptions noted 
later in this chapter, our hymns are based almost 
entirely upon the two-beat rhythm, two syllables 
occurring in each foot of meter. This rhythm is dis- 
tinctly recognized by authorities as fitting to the 
poetry of reflection, in contrast to the poetry of narra- 
tive and motion/ 

On this two-beat rhythm are built our most popular 
metrical forms — common meter, long meter, and 
short meter. Long meter is uniformly made of eight- 
syllable lines, each containing four feet of two beats to 
each foot : v^ — |v»^— |v-^ — |v-^ — | 
Of its various forms there are 114 examples, besides 7 
with refrain added. Of common meter the first and 
third lines are of eight syllables each, as in long meter, 
but the second and fourth are of only six syllables. 
This is said to be the feeblest of the meters for gen- 
eral poetic use. Of its four, six, and eight-line verses 
there are 114 examples in the Hymnal. 

Short meter is so called because the syllables of each 
four-line verse are in the order of 6. 6. 8. 6.; and of 
these there are 36 examples, besides 8 with a refrain. 



It is to be regretted that in the Metrical Index the 



> "The Musical Basis of Verse," by J. P. Dabney. Longmans. Green 
& Co., 1911, pp. 66 el aeq. 



162 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

full names of these three meters are not given, but 
only their initial letters. The C. P. M., L. P. M. and 
H. M. of the Methodist Episcopal Hynmal have, 
fortunately, given place to the more definite terms, 
8. 8. 6. Double, 8. 8. 8. Double and 6. 6. 6. 6. 8. 8. re- 
spectively. A brief study of the Metrical Index, 
which, by the way, should be mastered by everyone 
conducting worship regularly, will soon familiarize the 
student with the metrical forms there enumerated. 
The numbers at the top of each group refer to the 
number of syllables in the successive lines, recurring 
in regular order. For example, if you will count the 
syllables in ^'Angel Voices," in h)niin 27, you will find 
that the lines of each verse arrange themselves in the 
number of syllables they contain, as follows: 8. 5. 8. 5. 
8. 4. 3., which is the heading under which the hymn 
and tune are classed. The word ''Double" and the 
"s" pluralizing the number to which it is attached, 
and the letter "1" for ''lines," merely refer to the 
number of lines, in which the number-schemes of the 
syllables are repeated. With these few rules in mind, 
a glance at the ninety-one different metrical forms 
specified will satisfy one that there are not many 
radical differences in meter. 

The long, common, and short meters are closely 
related, as we have seen. Now, when the weak 
syllable is omitted from the long meter line, and the 
stronger "direct attack" is made we get the 7s meter. 
Sometimes alternate lines have feminine rh5nnes (or 
double syllables that rhyme). Thus, about two thirds 
of our 8s 7s hymns rhyme on the odd lines (double), as 



LITERARY BEAUTIES OF THE HYMNS 163 

well as on the even, as "In the cross of Christ I glory" 
(143), while the other one third end in an unrhyming 
double syllable. 'The King of love my Shepherd is" 
(136) serves as a rare illustration of the feminine 
rhymes in the second and fourth lines of the stanza. 
Of this two-beat rhythm the noblest form is the 10s. 
Well suited to heroics, as well as to lofty religious 
thought, it is inappropriate for frivolous, dainty, or 
light expressions. Of slightly varying forms of this 
meter there are several illustrations in the Hymnal. 

Besides the ninety-one meters enumerated in the 
Index, there is a double classification, P. M., called 
"Particular Meter" (or "Peculiar Meter," as some 
have it), and P. M. with Refrain, serving as a sort of 
wastebasket, into which an editor can throw all the 
meters that are left over. For this reason it should 
have been placed at the very end of the Metrical In- 
dex, as in the Hutchins, Parker, Tucker, and other 
hymnals. The purpose of a metrical index is to 
enable a pastor or choirmaster to quickly choose for 
any given hymn a different tune from the one 
to which it is set, but of the same meter. For this 
particular purpose the P. M. group is utterly useless, 
and it is surprising that no hymnal has ever labeled 
the P. M. wastebasket as useless in that respect, 
warning us that hymns under this heading, far from 
being all of the same meter, are, in fact, none of them 
of the same meter. 

Besides the inaccuracies in the Metrical Index, 
some of its classifications are misleading. In this 
respect, it is true, our Hymnal is following the bad 



164 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

precedent set by most of the best hymnals, which 
should some day be overruled. But, who, for in- 
stance, cares to sing ''Sweet hour of prayer" to the 
tune ''Contrast"? They have the same number of 
syllables, and are both classed as "8s Double"; but 
the hymn is a double rhythm and the tune is a triple 
rhythm. Who would sing Kipling's "Recessional" to 
the 8. 8. 8. Double tune "Nashville," even though 
they are both classed as "8s 6 lines"; or "Welcome, 
happy morning!" to the tunes of "The Lord is my 
Shepherd"; or "Come unto me when shadows" to the 
tune of "True-hearted, whole-hearted"; or "Long 
years ago o'er Bethlehem's hill" to the tune "Bethle- 
hem"? And yet each one of these couples is grouped 
under the one metrical heading, thus defeating the 
very purpose of the Metrical Index. 

Apropos of this last tune, beware of the "Irregulars" 
in this Index! Except for the word "Mary," Phillips 
Brooks's poem, to which our tunes "Bethlehem" and 
"Saint Louis" are set, is clearly a 8. 6. 8. 6. 7. 6. 8. 6. 
hymn; and is not 8s 6s Double. The other tunes 
under this heading have a refrain. "Amsterdam" is 
not irregular, but is a regular 7. 6. 7. 6. 7. 7. 7. 6. 
tune. And "Epiphany" deserves only the awkward 
metrical title "10. 11. 11. 11. 12. 11. 10. 11"; but is 
regular according to that scheme. 

As for hymns with refrains, both "Paradise" tunes 
use refrains, as do also five of the plain P. M. tunes, 
although "Beyond" is classed under " P. M. with Re- 
frain." It might be ad\nisable for a hymnal using a 
score of hymns with refrains to group these together 



LITERAKY BEAUTIES OF THE HYMNS 166 

under a note that they are not interchangeable, in- 
stead of making nearly as many separate metrical 
headings. 

There is a class of genuinely irregular tunes to be 
found among the nondescripts of P. M. Every verse 
of the regular meters conforms to a given scheme ; but 
the verses of the irregular forms are mutually incon 
sistent, and to guide the singer the notes of the music 
must be tied, using in some verses, but not in others, 
one note to each syllable. This we see in the tune 
"Elliott." But in singing the words of the hymn, 
'Thou didst leave thy throne," a congregation is very 
apt to become confused as to which syllables are to be 
sung to the tied notes. As it is written, there are two 
ways of singing either the first or the second lines of 
the last verse; and the usual confusion at this point 
sometimes not only confuses a congregation but in- 
evitably drives them to a painfully false accent. The 
tune ''Gary" fits well the first verse of "One sweetly 
solemn thought," but compels us to accent the ulti- 
mate of each bisyllabic word in the last lines of the 
third verse with ludicrous effect : 

Near-er ' leav-ing ' the cross, 
Near-er ' gain-ing ' the crown. 

This fault is intrinsic in the irregularity of the poetical 
meter, although R. S. Ambrose's famous melody to 
these words avoids this difficulty somewhat. These 
irregularities but emphasize the fact that hynm 
meters should be confined to strict limitations, and to 
be successful must easily yield to regular scansion, 



166 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

each foot containing the same number of syllables as 
the corresponding feet in other verses. 

While meter and emotional expression are essential 
to poetry, the meter must always be subordinate to 
the emotion. To inquire into the emotional fitness of 
certain meters among our hymns would lead us too far 
afield. Let one illustration suffice to mark the prin- 
ciple — the appropriateness of the more active three- 
beat rhythm to joyous themes. There are but few 
poems in the Hymnal using the three-beat rhythm. 
The twenty hymns whose meter is composed of the 
various combinations of 6s and 4s are all reducible to 
triple rhythm, such as ^ ^America" and "More love to 
thee, O Christ." About one third of the remaining 
hymns of this rhythm are to be found in the group of 
hymns expressing the joy of Christmas time, as 
"There's a song in the air," which sustains the triple 
beat throughout; "In the field with their flocks abid- 
ing"; and "Silent Night," which bears only a gentle 
suggestion of this rhythm. Nearly all of the other 
triple-beat hymns in the Hymnal express a joyous 
theme in this joyous rhythm, as "0 how happy are 
they," "True-hearted, whole-hearted," "Lift your 
glad voices," "Come, let us anew our journey pursue," 
"O thou, in whose presence my soul takes delight." 

Thus emotion and rhythm conspire to make beau- 
tiful the poetry of our Hymnal. 



PART III 

THE TUNES 



167 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE STORY OF THE TUNES AND THEIR 
COMPOSERS 

Early Musical History — Continental Composers — Brit- 
ish Composers — American Composers — New Tunes — 
Relation of Some Hymn Tunes to Larger Forms. 

The story of the hymn tunes has not been told so 
fully as the story of the hymns, save as it has ap- 
peared incidental to the general history of music. 
Hymnology has called forth hundreds of volumes to 
tell its story, while the history of the tunes can claim 
but comparatively few. Nor is this to be marveled at, 
when it is considered that hymn-writing is ancient, but 
music and, consequently, hymn-tune writing in its 
developed form is distinctly a modern art. 

During many centuries in Europe the history of 
music was simply the history of church music. This was 
largely true also of early American music, which made 
its first progress through anthems and hymn tunes, 
just as our earliest government itself followed ecclesi- 
astical principles. The Methodist Hymnal contains 
melodies from nearly every important period and 
school of hymn-tune writing, as we shall see in the 
illustrations that follow. 

Pope Gregory (A. D. 590) placed the imprint of his 
genius upon the crude musical system of his day by 
adding new scales or modes to those that had already 
been devised by Saint Ambrose, and by reducing the 

169 



170 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

whole to a more logical system. As a result, the 
Gregorian tones have ever since been the foundation 
of the Roman Catholic Church music. Of this ancient 
Gregorian plain-song the Methodist Hymnal contains 
little else besides a chant drawn from one of the 
Gregorian tones, ''Nunc Dimittis" (733) and a h5mm 
tune ''Olmutz" (227), arranged from the Gregorian by 
Lowell Mason. The old Latin melody (477), based 
upon five adjacent tones, was probably derived from 
the Gregorian music. These melodies, now clothed in 
modern harmony and rounded with a modern cadence, 
were originally sung only in unison, like all the music 
of this early homophonic era. The popular idea that 
the melody ''Crusader's Hymn" belongs to this period 
is incorrect. 

By the innovations of Hucbald in the tenth century, 
and Guido of Arezzo a century later, both of them 
pious monks, sacred words came to be sung upon two 
notes at the same time, instead of only one as before, 
and from this the harmony developed through 
successive centuries into an elaborate polyphony 
(noXv -^ (p&vog-j having "many tones"), until it was 
simplified and perfected by the genius of Palestrina 
(1524r-94). The Palestrina mass is still the model 
of beauty in the worship of the Roman Catholic 
Church throughout the world. 

Until the Reformation, church music was entirely 
in the hands of the clergy and their trained musicians. 
It was left to Martin Luther, assisted by the musician 
Walther, to bring worship song to the people them- 
selves by means of the German chorale, simple in 



THE STOEY OF THE TUNES 171 

melody, strong in harmony, and set to the familiar 
words of the vernacular, instead of the Latin. Hynm- 
singing had already been employed to a limited degree 
among the Bohemian Brethren and other sects; but 
now it became universal throughout the Reformed 
Ohurch. This may be regarded as the beginning of 
the modern hymn tune. 

Among the oldest examples of the German chorale 
in the Hymnal are ''Ein' Feste Burg" (101), ascribed 
to Martin Luther; ''Munich" (151), rearranged by 
Mendelssohn from an old chorale; the "Passion Cho- 
rale" (151) of Hans Leo Hassler and the chorale of 
Nicolaus Decius, of which we have two arrangements, 
''Decius" (93) and ''St. Peter" (97). The German com- 
posers of the seventeenth century followed the same 
general style of chorale writing in "Nuremberg" (103), 
by Johann Rudolf Ahle (1625-73); "Nun Danket" 
(30), by Johann Criiger (1598-1662) ; "Bremen" (476), 
by Georg Neumark (1621-81); and "St. Theodulph" 
(31), by M3lchior Teschner (about 1613). By playing 
these tunes, even amateur musicians can easily recog- 
nize the elements common to the German chorales, 
distinguishing them from the work of other schools, 
by a dignity of movement and a Doric simplicity 
of harmony, expressing a calm but lofty state of re- 
ligious feeling. No frivolous verses can well be sung 
to these stately measures, no thought can be appro- 
priate, save that which finds deep root in the soul life. 

Later composers have given to us genuine chorales 
of great worth, though in their day already observing 
the beginnings of a different type of hymn tune. The 



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THE STOKY OF THE TUNES 173 

most recent of these, Arne Oldberg, a living American 
composer, has written for the Methodist Hymnal in the 
chorale style an excellent hymn tune, ''Gilder" (14). 

The great composer Handel (1685-1759) was a 
master in writing the chorale. The six hymn tunes in 
our collection from his pen, however, were not written 
as chorales, but are melodies taken from his larger 
works (see end of this chapter), rearranged in harmony, 
and in some cases so changed in melody that we could 
scarce expect the composer himself to recognize them. 
The great German master musicians, beginning with 
Beethoven, in many respects the greatest of them all, 
on through the brilliant leaders of the later romantic 
school, have been levied upon generously for our 
hymn tunes. We thus make use of eight melodies 
from Beethoven, four from Spohr, six from Mendels- 
sohn, four from Haydn, three from Weber, two from 
Schumann, and two from Mozart, some of which 
have been traced in later paragraphs of this chapter 
to their original sources. 

France and Geneva played an important part in 
the hymn tunes of the sixteenth century. Of these we 
have ''Old Hundred" (16), a melody that has reached 
the widest influence. Its authorship is unknown. 
It is supposed, however, to have been adapted to 
Beza's version of the one hundred and thirty-fourth 
psalm for the Genevan Psalter, 1551, from a popular 
melody sung in France to the words, "II n^ a icy 
celluy qui n'ai sa belle," and in Holland to the words, 
'*Ik had een boelken intercorem, die ik met Harten 
minne." The tune ''Flemming" (478) was also taken 



174 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

from the Genevan Psalter, but its composer, Friedrich 
F. Flemming (1778-1813), was a native of Neuhausen, 
Saxony. Its resemblance to Webbe's ^'Glorious 
Apollo" has been noted by critics, though rarely 
provoking the charge of plagiarism. From Johann 
Georg Naegeli (1768-1836), who was born and 
died in Zurich, Switzerland, were taken "Dennis" 
(100) and ''Naomi" (277). The former appears three 
times in the Hymnal, the latter four times. 

Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) was born in 
Geneva, but through his brilliant work in Paris, be- 
ginning at the age of twenty-nine, his radical writings 
on music and his vigorous defense of the principles of 
the French Revolution, France may justly claim him 
and his music, from which we derive our popular 
melody "Greenville" (39). Of later French tunes, 
characterized by a charming sweetness of melody, we 
have the following examples: "Morning Hymn" (44), 
by Frangois Hippolyte Barthelemon (1741-1808) 
"Gilead" (202), by Etienne Henri Mehul (1763-1817) 
"Rutherford" (614), by Cretien D'Urhan (1788-1845) 
"Messiah" (348), by Louis Joseph Ferdinand Herold 
(1791-1833); "Radiant Morn" (566), "Olney" (696), 
and a chant (738), by Charles Frangois Gounod (1818- 
93), one of the great names in the history of music. 

From England has come by far the largest propor- 
tion of our hymn tunes. Thomas Tallis, or Tallys, the 
father of English Cathedral music, was born some time 
in the second decade of the sixteenth century and died 
in 1585. He was one of the greatest musicians of his 
age, and in England indisputably the greatest. His 



THE STOKY OF THE TUNES 



175 



most valuable legacy to succeeding ages was the per- 
fecting of the English h3ann tune. The most famous 
of these from his pen is in our collection and bears the 
name ''Evening Hymn" (49), though elsewhere it is 
more often known as "Tallis's Canon." By a slow 
rhythm, a most effective contrapuntal harmony, and 
an easily flowing melody he has combined solemn 
grandeur with delicate beauty. Its form as a canon 
may be observed by playing the tenor part beginning 
with the fifth note, from which point the tenor sings 
the very same melody that was sung by the soprano 
one measure previous, thus: 




5 



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Melody begins here. 



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176 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

The immediate successors of Tallis made little 
advance in the art of hymn tmies; and their work in 
the Methodist Hymnal is found only among the 
chants, No. 729, by Henry Lawes (1595-1662), No. 
728, by Pelham Humphrey (1647-74), No. 732, by 
Thomas Purcell, the greatest English musician of the 
seventeenth century (16237-1682), and three chants, 
730 and 732, by Henry Aldrich (1647-1710). The one 
exception to this is the hymn tune ''Winchester Old" 
(181) by George Kirbye ( -1634) . 

The English composers of the eighteenth century, 
especially those of the first fifty years, are repre- 
sented in our Hymnal by stalwart tunes of optimistic 
melodies and strong radical harmonies. To recognize 
this the student has but to examine "Hanover" (11) 
and the great ''St. Ann" (214) by William Croft (1678- 
1727) ; "Marlow" (8), by John Chetham (16857-1760) ; 
"All Saints" (215), by William Knapp (1698-1768), 
and "Arlington" (354) by Thomas A. Arne (1710-78). 
The famous Henry Carey (1685-1743), to whom is 
attributed our "America" (702), belongs to this 
period. J. Christopher Smith, Handel's secretary, 
attributes also to Carey the original words of this 
tune, "God save our gracious King," as it was first 
sung in 1740 at a dinner to celebrate the capture of 
Portobello. Questioning Carey's title as composer of 
the tune, successive critics have traced it to an "Ayre" 
by Dr. Jan Bull, 1619; a Scotch carol, "Remember, 
thou man," in Ravenscroft's "Melismata," 1611; a 
ballad of 1669, "Franklin is fled away"; and a time 
by Henry Purcell for harpsichord or spinnet, 1696. 



THE STORY OF THE TUNES 177 

Nevertheless, many editors still give the credit to 
Carey. The tune was adopted as the Prussian na- 
tional tune, and is also used patriotically in Denmark. 
English hymn-singing fell to a low ebb during 
the middle decades of the eighteenth century. The 
Church of England seemed to be indifferent to the 
musical demands of worship. The production of 
hymn tunes became weakly imitative. Congrega- 
tional singing languished. Though contemporaries 
were loath to admit it, there is no question but that 
the vigorous musical program of the Wesleys and its 
popularity among the people at large produced in- 
directly a marked improvement in the musical interest 
within the Established Church. From the work of 
the later eighteenth century English composers we 
have a dozen examples, the best of which are ^'Duke 
Street'^ (5), ''Mornington'^ (45), ^Truro" (7), ^'St. 
Stephen" (86), ''St. Martin's" (183), and ''Amster- 
dam" (623). In contrast to the earlier tunes of the 
century, one observes in these later melodies a much 
greater variety of musical rhythm and a more fre- 
quent use of two or more notes to one syllable, which 
gave greater elasticity but less solidity to the melody. 
The multiplying of many notes to a syllable was often 



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178 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

carried in this era to a ridiculous extreme. A faint 
suggestion of this is found in two measures of the 
tune "Avison" (119), which bears the name of its 
composer (circ. 1710-70). 

The tune ''Miller" (17), usually known as "Rocking- 
ham," and sometimes as "Caton," was adapted by Dr. 
Edward Miller (1731-1807) from an older tune, 'Tun- 
bridge." His psalm books sounded the knell of the 
old style psalm tune by popularizing better and more 
modern melodies. 

Scotland's musical contribution has been made 
through psalm tunes. The first Scotch psalter (1564) 
was largely based upon tunes brought from Geneva 
and France by returning exiles. The most famous 
Scotch psalter, musically speaking, was prepared 
by Andro Hart in 1615, and from this we get 
our tune "Dundee" (96). Its old title, "French," 
and its majestic movement suggest a continental 
origin. Robert Burns refers to it in "The Cotter's 
Saturday Night": 

Perhaps Dundee's wild, warbling measures rise. 

"Caledonia" (385), the stirring war song mentioned 
in another chapter, has also come to us from Scotland. 
Not only Scotland but Ireland also has had a part 
in the making of British hymn music, as some of the 
composers classed as English were born in Ireland, 
notably the Earl of Mornington (1735-81), Sir Robert 
Prescott Stewart (1825-94), and William V. Wallace 
(1814-1865). Few composers have had a more 
world-wide romantic career than Wallace, who wrote 



THE STORY OF THE TUNES 179 

"Serenity" (128), "We may not climb the heavenly 
steeps." After a brief musical life in Ireland he wan- 
dered through the wilds of Australia, escaping death 
from the savages only by the intervention of the 
chieftain's daughter, and at last winning crude musi- 
cal honors there. For one concert he was paid a 
hundred sheep. In the East Indies he played before 
the Queen of Oude. From Valparaiso, South America, 
he crossed the Andes to Buenos Ayres. At Santiago 
game cocks were the price of admission to his concert. 
Audiences in the United States and England were 
captivated by his playing, and soon he found English 
publishers for his operas and other compositions, 
which for the time became very popular. He died in 
the Pyrenees. 

The Welsh people, with their passionate love of 
music and rare natural excellence in singing, have 
produced many wonderful hymn-melodies. The Meth- 
odist Hynm Book of England has preserved some of 
the best of these ; but not so our American Hymnal, 
probably because their wild flavor is ill suited to 
either our popular taste or our musical traditions. 

Among the English composers of the nineteenth 
century the writing of hymn tunes attained the high- 
est excellence. A distinctive style of tune-writing 
was developed from the beginning of the century 
through the first four or five decades. In the latter 
half of the century, however, by far the largest pro- 
portion of the hymn tunes of the English school 
appeared, and at present they represent the most 
popular type of tune among cultured musicians and 



180 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

authoritative hymn-book makers. For the best 
musical results the English tune must be sung faster 
than the German chorale, or even the Scotch psalm 
tune. This may be explained partly by the fact that 
they were written largely by organists, who were 
accustomed to play hymns faster than their ancestors. 
On the other hand, they are ruined by such a giddy 
tempo as that which is necessary for the decadent 
revival melody with chorus, which has thrived con- 
temporaneously with the modern English tunes. 
Four-four time with even quarter notes (or half notes 
in the English books) characterizes a large proportion 
of these tunes, though many of them display a remark- 
able variety in rhythm (as "Lux Benigna'')- 

Of the earlier nineteenth century composers of this 
school the most prominent represented in our Hymnal 
were Edward Hodges (1796-1867), one of our tunes 
by him being "Habakkuk'^ (368, etc.); Henry John 
Gauntlett (1806-76), whose three different tunes in 
the Hymnal are not so popular as many others that he 
wrote; James Turle (1802-82), who wrote ''St. John's, 
Westminster" (550), "Westminster" (700), and a 
chant (733), all marked by a strong style of harmony 
and an unusual succession of chords; and Samuel 
Sebastian Wesley (1810-76), the grandson of the great 
Charles Wesley, "Aurelia" being the best known of our 
tunes by him. The Wesley family contained many 
able musicians. Charles Wesley was the most profi- 
cient among those at Epworth Rectory. His two 
sons, Charles and Samuel, attained a considerable emi- 
nence in the musical world. The latter was a prolific 



THE STOEY OF THE TUNES 181 

composer. His eldest son, the Rev. Dr. Charles 
Wesley, edited an anthem collection, and his third 
son, Samuel Sebastian (referred to above), became the 
greatest composer and for a time the best organist in 
the Church of England. 

There were five great leaders of the modem English 
school, whose names attached to hymn tunes are 
nearly always a guarantee of unusual excellence. 
They are (in the order of their birth) Smart, Dykes, 
Barnby, Stainer, and Sullivan. These men were all 
active in varied fields of English music, but in the 
realm of church music worked toward a common end, 
the production of hymn tunes that would meet the 
popular taste without sacrificing a high standard of 
excellence. Henry (Thomas) Smart (1813-79) wrote 
cantatas, part-songs, and compositions for the organ, 
of which instrument he was a master player. His 
blindness in 1864 was a serious handicap, but did not 
keep him from composing. His tunes possess charm- 
ing melody and effective harmonic treatment. The 
Rev. John Bacchus Dykes (1823-76), the Vicar of 
Saint Oswald, Durham, was noted as a theologian and 
a musician. His distinction lies in his wonderful abil- 
ity to express the spirit and thought of the hymn in its 
tune, although Grove refers slightingly to his ''rather 
sentimental style of harmonization." He and Lowell 
Mason are exceeded only by Barnby in the number 
of hymn tunes in our Hymnal. Sir Joseph Barnby 
(1838-96), a great conductor and organist, was the 
narrowly defeated rival of Sir Arthur Sullivan for 
musical honors at the Royal Academy of Music, He 



182 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

edited five hymnals and wrote two hundred and forty- 
six hymn tunes, popular in style and very sweet in 
melody. Sir John Stainer (1840-1901), the noted 
musical scholar, excelled mostly as an organist. His 
writings on music and his hymn tunes display soimd 
learning and artistic taste. Sir Arthur Sullivan 
(1842-1900) is best known to the world through his 
light operas, on which he collaborated with the cele- 
brated librettist, W. S. Gilbert. In his church music, 
embracing a cantata, 'The Light of the World," and 
many hymn tunes, he affects a pleasing tunefulness, 
strengthening it throughout with good counterpoint. 
His martial tune to ' 'Onward, Christian soldiers,'' is 
universally popular. 

Contemporaneous with these five leaders were many 
other composers, who wrought in much the same gen- 
eral style. The ''Gloria Patri," by Henry W. Greatorex 
(1816-57), one of his five tunes in the Hymnal, is be- 
coming as popular in Methodist worship as that by 
Charles Meineke. Of the three tunes of Sir George 
Job Elvey (1816-93), "Diademata" (179) and "St. 
George's Windsor" (636) are widely used. We 
have five hymn tunes and two chants from 
Edward John Hopkins (1818-1901), among them 
"Ellers" (38), "St. Athanasius" (77), and "St. Leon- 
ard" (472), all of them melodious in a most winsome 
way. From Richard Redhead we have only one 
tune, "Gethsemane" (280) ; though his tunes, always 
strong and usually interesting, are worthy of a larger 
place in Methodist music. His distinctive style is 
marked by plain simplicity of harmony, and often 



THE STORY OF THE TUNES 



183 



by the effective repetition of the first phrase at the 
end of the tune. Sir Henry W. Baker (1821-77) wrote 
our plaintive melodies, "Stephanos" (293) and ''Hes- 



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184 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

perus" (372), though they were harmonized by Monk. 
''Eventide" (50), as sung to ''Abide with me," has be- 
come the most popular of our four tunes by WilUam 
Henry Monk (1823-89). The tune originally written 
to "Abide with me" by the Rev. Henry Francis Lyte, 
author of the words, when near his death, has become 
almost forgotten. Monk's adaptation of Peter Rit- 
ter's (1760-1846) old German chorale "Hursley" (47) 
to the words "Sun of my soul" is known to every 
churchman. 

Our one tune from Alexander Ewing (1830-95), 
named for its composer "Ewing" (612) and sung to 
"Jerusalem the golden," is of unusual strength both in 
melody and harmony. Originally it was written in 
three-two time, and therefore with an entirely differ- 
ent rhythm from the modern fashion of singing it. 
The changes to our present version were not sanc- 
tioned by the composer, even though they have been 
by hymnal editors and by popular usage. The com- 
poser said of the tune in its new form, "It now seems 
to me a good deal like a polka. "^ One needs but to 
sing the words in the first line of each verse to see how 
admirably the melody is in accord with the words, 
while the counterpoint of bass against soprano will be 
found to be excellent. A. L. Peace (1844- ) has 
given us two melodies, one of them "Margaret" (481) 
sung to George Matheson's "0 Love, that wilt not let 
me go" being less characteristically English than the 
other, "Green Hill" (314, etc). The popularity of the 

'Cf. "Hymn ;Tunes and their Story," by James T. Lightwood. Pub- 
Jished by Charles H. Kelly, London, 1905. 



THE STOEY OF THE TUNES 185 

tune "Margaret" is probably due to its adaptability to 
these wonderful words, catching the spirit of yearn- 
ing love in the rhythmic suspensions on the half 
notes. 

Arthur H. Mann (1850- ) wrote four of our 
tunes, the best known being ^'Angel's Story (350) . All 
of these great exponents of the modern English hyrnn 
tune, that we have cited, were organists in English 
churches with the possible exception of Baker, who 
was a clergyman. "Bentley" (454), '^Christ Church" 
(178), and ''Nativity" (108) are among the other 
excellent tunes from this great English school not in- 
cluded in the work of the composers already men- 
tioned. 

Sir Frederick Bridge, since 1875 organist in West- 
minster Abbey, the musical editor of the Methodist 
Hymn Book, is represented in our Hymnal only by 
*'01ney" (696), which he arranged from Gounod, 
though he has written many strong hymn tunes of his 
own. For his hymn book, and at his request, a truly 
wonderful musical setting of Charles Wesley's last, 
deathbed poem, ''In age and feebleness extreme," was 
written by Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, who is 
called by Grove "the most important figure in musical 
art since the days of Purcell." This has been wisely 
included in our own Hymnal, "Marylebone" (746). 
When the Tune Committee of the English Methodist 
Hymn Book referred this hymn to the musical editor. 
Sir Frederick Bridge said: "This is one of your treas- 
ures. Any church might be proud to possess a little 
hynm with such a history, and in itself so beautiful. 



186 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

Let me ask my friend, Sir Hubert Parry, to compose a 
tune for it. It is just such a hymn as will appeal to 
his genius.'' Thus came to be written one of the most 
precious musical gems of our collection. 

We have cited the German, French, Swiss, and 
British composers at some length. Other European 
nations have had a part in making our tunes, though 
it has not been sufficiently strong to give us a flavor 
of their respective schools. From Italy comes the 
'Italian Hymn" (2), by Felice de Giardini (1716-96), 
the widely traveled violinist, who died in Russia. 
''Vigil" (625) was taken from Giovanni Paisello (1741- 
1816), while "Manoah" (105) and "Linwood" (496) 
are attributed to the Italian operatic composer, 
Gioachino A. Rossini (1792-1868). Our former 
hjminals, both North and South, contained the tune 
"Sicilian Mariners," which to this day is sung by the 
gondoliers in Venice on Saint Mary's Day to the 
words, ''0 Sanctissima, Purissima." 

Russia has yielded "St. Petersburg" (134), by 
Dimitri Stepanovich Bortnianski (1752-1825), who 
reduced Russian church music to systematic order; 
and the inspiring national air, "Russian Hymn" (707), 
by Alexis Feodorovitch Lvov, or Lwoff (1799-1870). 
Bishop Daniel A. Goodsell has described to the writer 
the thrilling effect upon a throng of listeners on the 
shore at Portsmouth, as they heard this grand hymn 
played at night by the naval bands on board the 
Russian warships, which had just come to America 
during our Civil War to assert the sympathy of their 
nation with our republic, then in controversy with 



THE STOKY OF THE TUNES 187 

European nations over the belligerency of the Con- 
federate States. 

''Austria" is the Austrian national hymn, written 
by Haydn, whom we have already classed among the 
German composers. It is probably the only melody 
intentionally composed for a national air that has 
been officially adopted. Ignaz Joseph Pleyel (1757- 
1831), who wrote "Pleyel's Hymn" (35), was also 
native of Austria, though like Haydn, whose pupil he 
was, he belongs to all Germany. Berthold Tours 
(1838-97), composer of "Rotterdam" (164), ''Gouda" 
(447), and "Deventer" (708), was born in Holland, but 
after 1861 his career was centered in London. 

Each one of the American composers contributing to 
our present collection, born in the eighteenth century, 
except Hastings and Mason, has given to our Hjminal 
only one hymn, each being fairly characteristic of 
the style of this period. They are as follows: "St. 
Thomas" (22), by Aaron Williams (1731-76), not 
excelled in this group: "Lenox" (294), by Lewis 
Edson (1748-1820); "Fillmore" (310), by Jeremiah 
Ingalls (1764-1828); "Coronation" (180), by Oliver 
Holden^ (1765-1844), who also wrote the words of the 
hymn, "They who seek the throne of grace" (515); 
"Communion" (146), by Stephen Jenks (1772-1856), 
to which we sing "Alas! and did my Saviour bleed"; 



1 Oliver Holden, a self-taueht musician, was bred to the carpenter's 
trade. "The little pipe organ, on which tradition says he struck the 6r8t 
notes of the famous tune, is now in the historical rooms of the Old State 
House, Boston, placed there by its late owner, Mrs. Fanny Tyler, the old 
musician's granddaughter." — "The Story of the Hymns and Tunes," by 
Theron Brown and Hezekiab Butterworth. 



188 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

'Woodland" (609), by Nathaniel Duren Gould 
(1781-1864); '^Armenia" (553), by Silvester Billings 
Pond (1792-1871); ^'Duane Street" (306), the tune of 
irresistible rhythm, by a former editor of the New 
York Christian Advocate, the Rev. George Coles 
(1792-1858); ''Martyn" (463), by Simeon Butler 
Marsh (1798-1875); "Holley" (74), by George Hews 
(1800-85); and ^'Federal Street" (271), by Henry K. 
Oliver (1800-85). The four tunes by Thomas Hast- 
ings (1784-1872) are ^^Zion" (91), ^'Ortonville" (135), 
'Toplady" (279), and "Retreat" (495). The student 
of hymn tune history would find it profitable to play 
over each of these tunes, and observe their charac- 
teristics as a class. 

The foremost name in the middle period of Ameri- 
can hymn tunes is that of Lowell Mason (1792-1872), 
who became famous as the advocate of the Pesta- 
lozzian system, the founder of the Boston Academy 
of Music, and the editor of a whole library of hymn 
books that brought him a fortune. In these works he 
adapted to hymn words many melodies from secular 
sources, dressing them in dignified form for church 
uses. Besides this he wrote several hundred hymn 
tunes that have met with wide favor. Hubert P. 
Main has said of Mason's melodies that their ''simplic- 
ity, sincerity, and appropriateness to their use will 
preserve them for a generation to come." In our 
Methodist Hymnal twenty-nine of his tunes are used 
to fifty of our hymns. There is hardly an American 
hymnal of good musical rank but contains some of his 
melodies. In England, however, many of the best 



THE STORY OF THE TUNES 189 

hymnals use scarcely any of his tunes. Already in the 
present Methodist Hymnal the inevitable process of 
selection has decreased the number of Mason's hymns 
from sixty-eight in the Methodist Episcopal Hymnal 
and nearly a hundred in the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South, Hymnal to only fifty (including dupli- 
cates) in the present Hymnal, and probably the next 
revision will show an even greater decrease. 

Our seven tunes from George Kingsley (1811-84), 
''Newbold" (24), ^Tappan" (99), ^^Boardman" (129), 
^Terguson" (172), ^^Heber" (424), '^Elizabethtown" 
(546), and 'Trederick" (584), have enjoyed a great 
popularity, especially the last of these to the words, 
"I would not live alway." Of these the first three 
have been musically deserving of favor. ''Rathbun" 
(143), by Ithamar Conkey (1815-67), has remarkably 
caught the spirit and accent of the words, 'In the 
cross of Christ I glory.'' 

Luther 0. Emerson (1820- ) wrote "Sessions'' 
(342), known as the ''tune with a slur," which is 
widely used through the South and West to the long- 
meter Doxology. He has graciously sent us an 
account of how the tune came to be written, a part of 
which we repeat to illustrate the devout methods of 
some composers : 

" In the year 1847 I was living in the city of 
Salem, Massachusetts. One pleasant summer Sab- 
bath day after returning from church, being alone 
m my house, I took up my hymn book, and on opening 
it my eyes fell upon the hymn beginning 'Sinner, 
why so thoughtless grown?' My attention was at 



190 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

once fixed upon it. I read the whole hymn through 
several times, and the impression it made upon me 
grew stronger and stronger at each repetition. I had 
a longing to give expression in some way to my emo- 
tions. After a season of prayer, I went to the piano 
and at once played the tune just as it came to me. 
There was no hesitancy about it, no effort made. It 
was all done in a minute. I played it again and again, 
and felt at the time it had life-giving power, and would 
live." 

An interesting phenomenon of American hymn 
tunes has been the gospel song of the nineteenth 
century. Lively in rhythm, simple in harmony to the 
point of the commonplace, the bass sometimes strum- 
ming through many measures upon one or two notes, 
while the melody does the same, or gallops across the 
sweet intervals of a sentimental melody — with these 
characteristics the tunes of the gospel songs have 
caught the popular fancy and become an important 
factor in the music of evangelism. The gospel song 
has had many exponents, the best of which have been 
levied upon for the Methodist Hymnal. 

The eldest of these was William Batchelder Brad- 
bury (1816-68), who wrote ten of our times. His 
''Sweet Hour of Prayer" (516), ''He Leadeth Me" 
(489), "Even Me" (346), "Bradbury" (677), and "The 
Solid Rock" (330) are among the best of this type. His 
"Woodworth" (272), written more in the style of his 
predecessors, though endeared through long associa- 
tion with "Just as I am without one plea," must 
eventually give way to Barnby's richer tune "Dun- 



THE STOKY OF THE TUNES 191 

stan/' which is given precedence in the Hymnal. 
''Converse" (551), by Charles Crozat Converse (1834- 
), lawyer, philologist, musician, is smig to ''What a 
friend we have in Jesus," and has most of the merits 
without the disadvantages of the gospel song. 

Robert Lowry (1826-99), a Baptist clergyman who 
died in Plainfield, Xew Jersey, composed the music of 
"Something for Jesus^ (349), "One More Day's Work 
for Jesus" (419), and "I Need Thee Every Hour" (506), 
to which last he wrote also the words of the chorus. 
William Howard Doane (1832- ), a successful man- 
ufacturer, wrote "More love to thee" (317), "Pass 
me not" (329), "Every Day and Hour," (490), 
"Precious Name" (508), and "Rescue the Perishing" 
(697). Ira David Sankey (1840-1908), D. L. .Aloody's 
musical lieutenant, adapted "Tell It Out" (634). If 
the reader will examine the successive tunes of these 
gospel song composers, he can plot the curve of the 
modem American prayer-meeting tunes, as it pro- 
ceeds from the more dignified rhythm of church music 
to the "catchy," lively jingle of the popular ballad. 
George Coles Stebbins (1846- ), a coeditor with 
Sankey of the famous "Gospel Hymns," has given us 
good examples of both styles in his "Evening Prayer" 
(55) and "True-hearted, Whole-hearted" (420). John 
H. Stockton, William G. Tomer, and Mrs. Joseph F. 
Knapp have each given us one gospel song. Natur- 
ally, the editors, in admitting this style of music to the 
Hynmal, have chosen the best, and have avoided the 
almost innumerable collections of words and tunes, 
many of which ought never to be used in divine wor- 



192 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

ship. While the admission of "gospel tunes" lowers 
the purely musical standards of the Hymnal, it makes 
the book more adaptable to the evangelist. 

The last half of the nineteenth century has given us 
some hymn tunes from American composers that are 
used in the best hynmals, such as our tunes, "St. 
Louis" (121), by Lewis Henry Redner (1831- ); 
"National Hymn" (704), by George W. Warren (1828- 
92), which was written for the Centennial in 1876; and 
"Festal Song" (413), by WiUiam Henry Walter (1825- 
93), all three of them prominent organists. "Cary" 
(620) was arranged by Eben Tourjee (1834-91), the 
father of musical conservatories in America, who was 
employed as a musical expert in preparing the 1878 
Methodist Episcopal Hymnal. His daughter, Lizzie 
S. Tourjee (1858- ), now Mrs. Estabrook, wrote the 
stately "Wellesley" (98), to which we sing, "There's a 
wideness in God's mercy." 

The tunes written especially for the Methodist 
Hymnal are generally of a high musical order. One 
critic indiscriminately dooms them all to unpopularity. 
Time only can decide on this point. Many of them 
are already in frequent use. Whatever may be their 
fate, they are as a class musically well written, melo- 
dious in the soprano, and strongly constructed in 
harmony and coimterpoint. Most of them follow 
English models. 

More tunes were written by the musical editors than 
all the new tunes by other composers combined, Peter 
C. Lutkin contributing twenty and Karl P. Harrington 
twelve. Some of these tunes are mentioned in the 



THE STOKY OF THE TUNES 193 

next chapter. Mr. Lutkin wrote the Choral Blessing, 
'The Lord Bless You and Keep You" (748) with an 
elaborate contrapuntal sevenfold Amen, as a farewell 
to William Smedley, choirmaster at Saint James 
Protestant Episcopal Church, Chicago. It was sung, 
all kneeling, after the benediction without Mr. Smed- 
ley 's prevoius knowledge. Both Lutkin's ''Belle- 
ville" and Harrington's 'Talm Sunday" were written 
on the railroad train. 

Next to these in the number of new tunes comes 
Alfred G. Wathall, the composer of the recently 
popular comic opera, 'The Sultan of Sulu," who was 
born in England in 1880 and is a graduate of North- 
western University. In writing for the H3niinal he 
has achieved a new record for speed; for all of his 
seven hymn tunes were written within an hour, and, 
furthermore, they were the first hymn tunes he had 
ever written. Individual tunes have been written 
within a short time. The tune to ''Abide with me" 
was written by Monk in ten minutes, and Dr. Dykes's 
"Lux Benigna" for "Lead, kiinlly Light," came to him 
within a very few minutes while walking down the 
Strand in London in August, 1865. But Mr. Wathall 
holds the record. 

"Puritan" (^713) was written during a summer vaca- 
tion in 1904 at South Manchester, Connecticut, by 
Henry M. Dunham (1853- ), a prominent organist, 
organ composer, and distinguished teacher in the New 
England Conservatory. He was born in Brockton, 
Massachusetts, July 27, 1853. 

Of his own tune, "Holmfirth" (611), the Rev. Dr. 



194 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

Benjamin Gill writes: "The hymn had always been a 
great favorite of mine. Two years before I had lost 
the dear partner of my life, who had walked with me 
for thirty years and more. The tune was written at 
once, and sang itself out of a yearning heart." One 
of the members of the Hymnal Commission wrote 
about this tune in a letter: "It sounds like Ben, and 
all good, old, strong, true things — like old times, and 
like the hope of better new times. Nicht wahr?" 

The tune "Shortle" (664) was written June 27, 
1904, by Charles G. Goodrich, organist, composer 
and professor of modern languages at Marietta 
College. He was bom in Waterbury, Connecticut, 
September 19, 1869, and graduated from Wesleyan 
Academy, '89, and Wesleyan University, '93. 
"Crimea" (124), originally set to the words, 
"My God, how endless is thy love," was com- 
posed in Martland in 1901 by Thoro Harris, an 
editor of sacred music, who was born in Wash- 
ington, D. C, March 31, 1874. William H. Pontius 
(1860, Circleville, 0.), composer of "Eighmey" 
(412) and "Holy Hill" (13), is director of the 
Department of Music, Minneapolis School of Music. 

The "Sanctus No. 2" (741) was written for the 
choir of Saint James Methodist Episcopal Church, 
New York city, in 1894; and "Washington" (444) was 
composed at the Centenary Collegiate Institute, 
Hackettstown, New Jersey, in 1898, to the words 
"Abide with me," but was revised several years later 
and set to the different rhythm of "My Father knows 
my every need" for the Hymnal. But the commission 



THE STOKY OF THE TUNES 195 

dropped these words from the book, and the tune was 
finally set to ''My hope, my all, my Saviom- thou/' 

The Rev. Dr. Lorm Webster (Claremont, N. H., 
July 29, 1857- ), who graduated from Saint 
Paul's School, Concord, 76, from Trinity College, 
'80, and from Berkeley Divinity School, '83, is 
rector of Holderness School (New Hampshire). His 
account of his composing of ''Service" (414) and 
"Ruth" (492) is well worth quoting: "I can never 
think deeply about the meaning of a hymn without 
having a musical interpretation of it come to my 
mind and soul expressing my emotions from the 
sentiment of the words. And so these hymns soon 
aroused in my mind a conception of their meaning in 
both melody and harmony. Frequently, after the 
first draft of a hymn, I change the harmony to give a 
certain part a more pleasing progression or to conform 
the writing to the laws of harmony and musical form, 
and I did so in composing these." 

Of the other composers writing especially for the 
Hymnal a few should be observed. Dr. Maro L. 
Bartlett (Brownhelm, 0., October 25, 1847- ), 
teacher, musical conductor, and author of several 
books on music, is the director of the Des Moines 
(Iowa) Musical College. Mrs. Emma Louise Ashford, 
n6e Hindle (Delaware, 1850- ), is the wife of Pro- 
fessor Ashford, who for over a score of years has been 
on the faculty of Vanderbilt University (Nashville, 
Tenn.). As an organist, composer of eight sacred 
and two secular cantatas, fifty songs and forty piano 
pieces, and an editor of three musical periodicals, she 



196 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

has become known to a large circle of church musi- 
cians. John W. Baume (Halifax, England, December 
15, 1862- ) , from a stanch English Wesleyan family, 
nephew of the late Rev. Dr. James Bairnie, of the 
Rock River Conference, is now a Chicago music pub- 
lisher, composer, and violinist. His most popular 
song, "If I But Knew," reached a sale of two hundred 
thousand copies. Dr. Moses S. Cross, composer of 
the tunes "Resignation" and "Waratah," was one of 
three clergymen, sons of Rev. Aaron Cross of the 
Rock River Conference. He died April 20, 1911. 
John Spencer Camp (1858- ), writer of "Abiding 
Grace" and "Sylvester," is a prominent organist 
and composer in Hartford, Conn, (see p. 202). 

Rounding out the story of the tunes, let us con- 
sider their relation to larger musical works. Many of 
our tunes have been derived from oratorios, operas, 
masses, and other large forms; while, on the other 
hand, many of the hymn tunes have been taken as 
themes for development into larger works, or have 
been inserted with dramatic effect in the heart of 
some sacred cantata or oratorio. 

The following hymn tunes, grouped according to 
composers, have been derived from the music set 
opposite their numbers and titles: 

George Frederick Handel (1685-1759). 

"Antioch" (107), A medley from the oratorio 

"Messiah": (a) Chorus, 
"Lift up your heads"; (6) 
Introduction to tenor aria, 
"Comfort ye." 

"Christmas" (115), "Non vi piacque," from the 

opera "Ciroe" (Cyrus). 



THE STORY OF THE TUNES 



197 



"Thatcher" (182), 
"Samson" (298), 



"Bradford" (370), 



'Dirge" (586); 



From the opera "Sosarme." 

Chorus, "Then 'round about 
thy starry throne," ora- 
torio "Samson." 

Contralto solo, "I know that 
my Redeemer Hveth," ora- 
torio "Messiah." 

From oratorio "Saul." 



LuDwiG VON Beethoven (1770-1827). 

"Hayes" (131), Andante movement in Sonata 

Opus 14, No. 2. 
"Hymn of Joy" (160), From the Ninth Symphony. 

"Alsace" (518), From the Second Symphony. 

Felix Jacob Ludwig Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-47). 



"Consolation" (43), 

"Mendelssohn" (111), 

"Wilson" (116), 
"Bartholdy" (379), 
"Intercession New" (509), 



Louis Spohr (1784-1859). 
"Simpson" (309), 

"Spohr" (320), 
"Waring" (465), 



From No. 3, Book 2, "Songs 
without Words" for piano, 
Opus 30, called "Consola- 
tion." 

From the "Festgesang," writ- 
ten in 1840 to celebrate the 
discovery of the art of 
printing. 

Tenor aria No. 4, "If with all 
your hearts" (Deut. 4. 29), 
oratorio "Elijah." 

No. 6, Book 3 of "Songs with- 
out Words," Opus 38, called 
"Duet." 

Latter half from No. 19, reci- 
tative and chorus in ora- 
torio "Elijah" to words, 
"Open the heavens and send 
usrelief"(lChron.4.27). 



From sacred cantata "Cruci- 
fixion." 

Solo, "If all thy friends for- 
sake thee," oratorio "Cal- 
vary." 

Slow movement of string 
quartette in A minor. 



198 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

Francis Joseph Haydn (1732-1809). 

''Creation" (84), Chorus No. 14, Allegro "The 

heavens are telHng," ora- 
torio "Creation." 

Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826). 

"Seymour" (267), From the opera "Oberon." 

"Jewett" (524), Contralto aria, from the opera 

"Der Freischiitz." 

Robert Schumann (1810-56). 

"Canonbury" (42), "Nachtstuok" (Night-piece), 

Opus 23, No. 4. for piano. 

Charles Gounod (1818-93). 

"Olney" (696), From song, "There is a green 

hill far away." 

Sir John Stainer (1840-1901). 

"Cross of Jesus" (98), From choral hymn, "In the 

cross of Christ I glory," in 
sacred cantata "Cruci- 
fixion." 

Ignace J. Pleyel (1757-1831). 

"Pleyel's Hymn" (35), Slow movement of quartette. 

Opus 7, No. 4. 

Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829-69). 

"Mercy" (562), Piano piece, "Last Hope." 

Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-78). 
"Greenville" (39), Originally occurs vdth slight 

differences in Scene 8 of 
"Le De\in du Village," by 
Rousseau, which was played 
before King Louis of France 
in Fontainebleau in 1752, 
and for the last time after 
six decades of popularity in 
1828, when some wag cast a 
huge powdered periwig on 
the stage, thus fatally ridi- 



THE STOKY OF THE TUNES 199 

culing the opera. Berlioz, 
accused of doing this,proved 
his innocence in his "Mem- 
oirs." The tune, in arrange- 
ment more like its present 
hymn-form, became popular 
in London in 1812 as a 
pianoforte piece, entitled 
''Rousseau's Dream.'' 

George James Webb (1803-87). 

"Webb" (386), From a secular song, '"Tis 

dawn, the lark is singing," 
written during an ocean 
voyage. 

Isaac Baker Woodbury (1819-58). 

"Siloam" (281), Originally sung to George 

Herbert's words, "Sweet 
day, so cool, so calm, so 
bright," written in storm at 
sea. 

Thomas A. Arne (1710-78). 

"Arlington" (354), From Overture to Opera "Ar- 

taxerxes." 

Samuel Webbe (1740-1816). 

"Melcombe" (95), From Mass to words, "O 

salutaris hostia," 1791. 

Hans Leo Hassler (1564-1612). 

"Passion Chorale" (151), A love song, "Mein G'muth ist 

mir verwirret," from his 
"Lustgarten." 

Frederick Burc.muller (1804-24). 

"Emmons" (532), From one of his instrumental 

marches. 



'Old Hundred" (16), From popular French song: 

"II n'v a icy celluy qui n'ai 
sa belle." 



200 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

Some of our tunes, as ''Mendebras" (68), were 
taken from German folk song. Of these Professor 
John Stuart Blackie, himself a hymn-writer, has said: 
"Many of these melodies, though used on convivial 
occasions, have a solemnity about them, in virtue of 
which they are well fitted for the service of the sanc- 
tuary." 

The use of our hymn tunes as themes for elaboration 
or as dramatic interludes in larger works is a study, 
which, if detailed in full, would lure the student 
through innumerable oratorios, sacred cantatas, organ 
sonatas, orchestral symphonies, and other large works, 
and would necessitate the expansion of this chapter 
far beyond its due proportions, so extensively have 
composers made use of these attractive thematic 
sources. We cite, however, a few examples : 

''Ein' Feste Burg" (101). Attributed to Martin Luther 
(1483-1546). Meyerbeer took this as the central musical 
theme of his opera "The Huguenots.'' Mendelssohn used it 
in his "Reformation Symphony," and Wagner in his "Kaiser 
March/' Bach in various ways in his sacred cantata to the 
same words, and Dudley Buck makes it the climax of a male 
quartette. 

"America" (702), attributed to Henry Carey (1685-1743). 
Used by Beethoven for piano variations in C major, and by 
Weber in his "Jubel Overture." Adolph Hesse (1800-63) 
ingeniously elaborated the theme into a brilliant concert 
piece for the organ. 



'Old Hundred" (16). Forms the climax to Leopold Dam- 
rosch's setting of Bayard Taylor's "National Ode," written 
for the Centennial in 1S7G. 



THE STOEY OF THE TUNES 201 

"St. Ann "(214). By William Croft (1678-1727). J. Sebas- 
tian Bach's "Fugue in E Flat major/' written in the last 
period of his Ufe, is known as the "St. Ann's Fugue," be- 
cause of the use of this theme in the three movements (1) 
broad and stately, (2) graceful, (3) rhythmic and brilUant. 

"Munich" (151). Known in Germany as the "Konigsberg 
Chorale." In Mendelssohn's oratorio "Elijah," as Choral 
No. 15, it is sung to the words, "Cast thy burden upon the 
Lord." This arrangement is nearly the same as appears in 
our Hymnal, where it is attributed to him. 

"Silent Night" (123). By Franz Gruber (1787-1863), 
often called "Holy Night." John Hyatt Brewer has writ- 
ten a Christmas cantata, "Holy Night," based upon this 
theme. 

"Russian Hymn" (707). By Alexis F. Lwoff (1799-1870). 
Used in piano piece, "The Czarina," by Ganne and in sev- 
eral symphonic works. 

"Crusader's Hymn" (118). Liszt has used the melody as a 
trio in the oratorio "Saint Elizabeth" to the "March of the 
Crusaders." 

"PassionChorale"(151). ByHans Leo Hassler (1564-1612). 
Used by Johann Sebastian Bach several times in his 
"Passion Music according to the Gospel of Saint Matthew" : 
No. 21, "Acknowledge me, my Keeper"; No. 53, "Commit 
thy ways, O pilgrim"; No. 63, "0 Head, all bruised and 
wounded"; No. 72, "When I, too, am departing." Each 
number is sung in a lower key than the preceding number. 

"Decius" (93) or "St. Peter" (97). By Nicolaus Decius 
(16th century). In Mendelssohn's oratorio "Saint Paul," 
used as Chorale No. 3 to the words similar to our own hymn 
(93), "To God on high be thanks." 

"Nun Danket" (30). By Johann Criiger (1598-1662). 
Used by Mendelssohn as Chorale No. 8 in his Opus 52, the 
"Lobgesang," or "Hymn of Praise," to the words, "Let all 
men praise the Lord," which is Alfred Novello's translation 
from the original of our hynm (30) by Martin lUukart. 



202 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

"Bremen" (476). By Georg Neumark (1621-81). In 
Mendelssohn's oratorio "Saint PauF' this forms the Choral, 
No 9, at the death of Stephen to the words, "To thee, 
Lord, I yield my spirit." 

*'Miller" (17). Mendelssohn took this as the finale of his 
organ sonatas. It is said by one critic to have suggested 
to Mendelssohn his aria, "O rest in the Lord." 

'ToRTUGUESE Hymn" (125). Often called "Adeste Fideles." 
One of the Christmas melodies in Guilmant's organ offer- 
tory, "Christmas Hymns." John Spencer Camp uses it in 
his sacred cantata, "The Prince of Peace." 

"Coronation" (180). By OHver Holden (1765-1844). John 
Spencer Camp introduces this also in his "Prince of Peace." 
He is the composer of our hymn tunes, "Abiding Grace" 
(504) and "Sylvester" (571), both written especially for the 
Methodist Hynmal. 



CHAPTER IX 

THE TITLES OF THE TUNES 

Derived from the Hymns — ^Authors and Composers — 
From Persons — Places — Hills — Rivers, Etc. — 
Method in Choosing Names 

In the new Methodist Hymnal the titles of the 
h"nuis are no longer used, as in previous Hymnals. 
But, as titles are still applied to the tunes, v^hy should 
we not know more about these tune names, their use, 
and their meaning? 

There is a great confusion in the naming of tunes, for 
in many instances the same name serves to designate 
several different tunes while, on the other hand, there 
are often many tunes bearing the same name. When 
the naming of psalm tunes was first introduced in 
Este's Psalter (1592), it would have been simple 
enough to avoid this; but now when literally thou- 
sands ot hymn tunes are being published each year, 
confusion is inevitable. Nevertheless, it is un- 
doubtedly increased by the carelessness of editors. 

In the Methodist Hymnal the editors have taken 
great care in the choice of names. Only one name, 
''Stanley," has had to serve two tunes, although in the 
Wesleyan Methodist Hymn Book there are twenty 
names that must stand for two or more tunes, and in 
some other books there are even more. One tune 
appears in our Hymnal under two names, ''St. Peter" 
and "Dccius," although this is somewhat justified by 

203 



204 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

the difference in musical arrangement. In choosing 
names for the new tunes the editors have made pecu- 
liarly fitting selections. One quarter, however, of the 
names chosen for new tunes in this Hymnal are already 
attached to other tunes in other books, as "Temple," 
''Racine," ''Ruth," "Middletown," "Resignation," 
"Praise," "Worship," "Stella," "Nashville," "Ply- 
mouth," "Washington," and "Evanston," the last two 
having been applied to other tunes in the old Method- 
ist Hynmals of both North and South. 

Usually, the editors have followed good precedent 
in the choice of names for the old tunes also. "Co- 
bern," however, is among the exceptions. Dr. Gaunt- 
lett's tune, so named in our Hymnal, has appeared in 
many other books, and, so far as we have observed, 
always under the name of "Houghton." It is so 
named in the Methodist Episcopal Hymnal of 1878, 
but is wrongly attributed there to William Gardiner, 
instead of Henry J. Gauntlett. 

To illustrate the Babel of names that confuse the 
psalmodist, we have examined every tune title in 
twenty American hynmals, published within as many 
years. As a result, we find that, on the average, about 
fourteen tunes in each of these books are either tunes 
contained in the Methodist Hymnal but bearing differ- 
ent titles, or tunes not contained in our Hymnal but 
bearing the same titles as other tunes in the Hymnal. 
There are over twice as many of the former as of the 
latter. 

Comparing the titles in our Hymnal with those in 
the Methodist Hymn Book of England, we find forty- 



THE TITLES OF THE TUNES 205 

six tunes common to both hymnals that bear different 
titles, three of these titles, however, being very similar; 
and we find forty-nine titles referring to entirely dif- 
ferent tunes in the books in which they respectively 
appear. 

In spite of this confusion, most of the best hymns 
retain their original names, and to many of these 
names there attaches some peculiar interest relating to 
the composer or to the hymn. As so few of the con- 
stant users of the Hymnal have given thought to the 
meaning of the tune names, a glance at this field may 
not prove unprofitable. 

Just a little more than one quarter of our tunes have 
clearly derived their titles from one of the hymns to 
which they are set in our Hymnal. Where a tune is 
used for more than one hymn, naturally such a title 
can be appropriate to only one of these hymns. Thirty- 
one of these titles make use of the English words of the 
first line, either entire or in part, as "Blessed Assur- 
ance," "Holy Spirit, Faithful Guide" or "Sweet Hour 
of Prayer"; and ten of them use the words of the 
refrain for a title, as "Close to Thee," or "Loving Kind- 
ness." These follow the German method of naming 
the chorales from the first lines of the hymn. Thus 
we have in our alphabetical list of tune titles, "Nun 
Danket" (Now thank we), "Ein' Feste Burg" (A 
mighty fortress), etc. All five of the German titles in 
our Hymnal are appropriate to the words. Of other 
titles suggested by the hymns fourteen refer to some 
act of worship, as "Praise" or "Baptism" ; ten to some 
Christian virtue, as "Fortitude" or "ImpHcit Trust", 



206 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

nine to heaven, as 'Taradise" or ''Homeland'^; and 
ten to the time of day, as ' 'Morning Hymn" or "Night- 
fall." The Wesleyan Methodist Hymn Book, cm-i- 
ously enough, contains a tune by Mr. West, entitled 
''Sunset" to words that describe the sunrise. 

The relation of some of the titles to the words is less 
obvious. "Old Hundred" or "Old Hundredth" is the 
tune to the hundredth psalm, of which Hymn No. 16 
is a metrical version. "Joshua" is indicated, though 
not mentioned, in the hymn poem of John Hay set to 
a tune of that name. "Patmos" is suggested by the 
vision in the words, "I saw the holy city." "Palm 
Sunday" is meant in the words: "There was a time 
when children sang." 

Many of our tune names, that have been derived 
from their original hymns, illustrate the chief dis- 
advantage of this method of naming, in that the tunes 
have been set to wholly different hymns in our 
Hymnal, to which their titles bear no relation what- 
ever. The following titles are explained only by the 
hymns, to which they are set in other books, but not 
in ours: "Angels' Story," formerly set to Mrs. Miller's 
"I love to hear the story, Which angel voices 
tell"; "Holy Trinity," to Charles Wesley's hymn 
to the Trinity, "A thousand oracles divine" (sung 
to "Azmon" in our Hymnal); "Radiant Morn," 
to Dr. Thring's "The Radiant morn hath passed 
away"; "Gethsemane," to J. Montgomery's "Go to 
dark Gethsemane"; "Day of Rest," to J. W. Elliott's 
"0 day of rest and gladness" (sung to "Mendebras" in 
our Hymnal); "Blessed Home," to H. W. Baker's 



THE TITLES OF THE TUNES 207 

'There is a blessed home"; ^'Nearer Home," to J. 
Montgomery's " Forever with the Lord " (sung to 
''Vigil" in our Hymnal); "Mercy," to Charles Wes- 
ley's "Depth of Mercy." Of the Latin titles two are 
taken from the words of the original h3nims, to which 
the tunes are not set in our Hymnal: "Dulcetta" 
(diminutive from Latin word meaning "sweetness"), 
originally set to James Allen's "Sweet the moments, 
rich in blessing"; "Aurelia" (Latin for "Golden"), to 
"Jerusalem the golden." Five of these ten hymns are 
in the Methodist Hymnal; and in the Hutchins Prot- 
estant Episcopal Hymnal nearly all of them are set 
to the original tunes here enumerated. 

The English composers especially delight in the use 
of Latin titles. Of Dykes's Latin titles we have eight, 
and two or three each from Barnby, Calkin, Smart, 
and Stainer. Of the thirty Latin titles twenty-one 
refer directly to the words in our Hymnal. For in- 
stance, "Nox Prsecessit" (The night advances) to the 
hymn "My span of life will soon be done"; "Lux Eoi" 
(Light of the East), to No. 567, whose sixth line refers 
to the light; "Munus" (Gift), to "Day by day the 
manna falls"; "Vexillum" (Standard), to "Forward 
be our watchword"; "Vox Dilecti" (Voice of the Bo- 
loved One), to "I hoard the voice of Jesus say." Thus 
also, "Diademata" (crowns), "Stella" (star), "Rox 
Regum" (King of Kings), "Stabat Mater" (There 
stood the Mother), "Vesperi Lux" (Evening light), 
"Pax Tecum" (Peace be with thee), "Paschale Gau- 
dium" (Paschal joy), "Visio Domini" (A vision of the 
Master), "Materna" (Mother), "Dominus Regit Me" 



208 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

(The Master rules me), 'Irse" (Wrath), ''Laudes 
Domini" (Praises to the Master), 'Tastor Bonus" (The 
Good Shepherd), 'Tenitentia" (Penitence), ''Vigilate" 
(Watch), ^'Lux Benigna" (kindly light). 

Eighteen of the titles are taken from the names of 
the authors, to whose hymns the tunes so entitled are 
set, as ^^Gilder," ^'Copeland," 'Toplady," '^St. An- 
drew of Crete." Two of these, ^^Gerard" and "God- 
frey," are the first names of Gerard T. Noel and 
Godfrey Thring, the others being the last names of the 
respective poets. 

Thirty-three titles are taken from the names of the 
composers, two of them being middle names, "Sebas- 
tian" and "Baptiste," from Samuel Sebastian Wesley 
and John Baptiste Calkin respectively. Of Felix 
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy's melodies, one is called 
"Mendelssohn," another "Bartholdy," while a third 
is often called "Felix," though in our Hymnal it is 
known as "Consolation." This same tune "Consola- 
tion," and also "Cross of Jesus," "Samson," and 
"Creation," derive their titles from the original works 
in which their melodies first appeared, as we have 
described at the end of the last chapter. 

Many other of the tunes were named for certain 
people. "Vincent" was named for Bishop John H. 
Vincent, for whom it was composed. "Sutherland" 
bears the name of Alexander Sutherland, D.D., of 
Toronto, secretary of the Canadian Methodist Board 
of Missions. "Evelyn" was named for a personal 
friend of Mrs. Ashford, the composer. Of Professor 
Lutkin's tunes, "Gleason" was chosen in memory of 



THE TITLES OF THE TUNES 20d 

the late Frederick Grant Gleason, a prominent Chicago 
musician; ''CaryF' in memory of a little child that 
died at the age of four; ''St. Barbara" in memory of 
the Methodist saint, Barbara Heck, after whom is 
named ''Heck Hall'' of Northwestern University, 
where an important meeting on this present Hymnal 
was held. "Olivarius" is the maiden name of the 
composer's mother. "Patten" is so named for Dr. 
Amos W. Patten, chaplain of Northwestern University, 
and compiler, with Professors Stuart and Lutkin, of 
the "Northwestern University Chapel Service Book." 
"Camp" was named for a friend of the composer. 

The naming of the tune "Theodore" has an interest- 
ing history. When the composer first played it over 
to one of the editors, the latter exclaimed, "That tune 
sounds strenuous!" This adjective, so often applied 
to President Theodore Roosevelt, at once suggested 
"Roosevelt" as a name for the tune. But as that 
seemed too obvious, they chose instead the Presi- 
dent's first name, "Theodore." After the Hymnal 
appeared, the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Copeland, author of 
"Our fathers' God, to thee we raise," to which the tune 
"Theodore" is set, wrote to ask why the tune was 
called by that name. Did the composer know that the 
author had lost a little boy whose name was Theo- 
dore? The reply came to Dr. Copeland that the tune 
had been named for the President. Whereupon Dr. 
Copeland replied that the coincidence was even more 
remarkable because when Roosevelt was police com- 
missioner in New York he had been such an admirer 
of the commissioner's integrity and devotion to duty 



210 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

that he had named his son after him. Thus the tune 
of the composer and the son of the author of Number 
713 in our Hymnal both came to bear the name 
'Theodore." 

The names of f oiu* of the makers of our Hymnal are 
to be foimd in the Index of Tunes, though I have been 
assured by other members of the Committee on Tunes 
that their names were not chosen while these four 
were present. "Upham" was given to one tune in 
honor of the Rev. Dr. Samuel F. Upham, chairman of 
the first Methodist Episcopal Commission, and a mem- 
ber of the later Joint Commission on the Hjnnnal 
until his death. 'Tarker" and ''Moore" and "Co- 
bern" were chosen respectively for Dr. F. S. 
Parker and Dr. John M. Moore, of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South, and Dr. C. M. Cobern 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, all members of 
the Joint Commission. 

''Fisk" bears the name of the Rev. Dr. Willbur 
Fisk, first president of Wesleyan University. The tune 
was first composed by Professor Calvin S. Harring- 
ton to the words "Teach me, O my gracious Lord," 
written by President Fisk's widow especially for the 
theological students of the Methodist General Biblical 
Institute at Concord, New Hampshire. The words 
were not acceptable to the Commission on the Hym- 
nal of 1878; but the Committee on Tunes urged that 
the tune be included in the book. Professor Harring- 
ton consented only on condition that it be published 
anonymously. Therefore a star in the old Hymnal is 
all that is to be found in the upper right-hand corner 



THE TITLES OF THE TUNES 211 

of the tune 'Tisk/' where now stands the honored 
name of this sainted singer. 

The tune "Short le" was named for Dr. Henry 
Shortle, late of Provincetown, Massachusetts, the 
father-in-law of the composer, Charles G. Goodrich. 
Dr. Shortle as Simday school superintendent, class 
leader, and one of the founders of the Yarmouth 
Camp Meeting, became known to Methodists through- 
out eastern Massachusetts. Many remember with 
emotion his power in prayer and testimony. He died 
in September, 1892, at the age of nearly 58. 

''Emilie,'' written in 1880 by John W. Baume, in 
Fresno, California, where he was organist in the 
Presbyterian church, was named for the composer's 
sister Emily. "Eighmey" was named for C. H. 
Eighmey, of Dubuque, Iowa, who is a leading figure 
in the Methodist Church not only in his own town, but 
also in the State in which he lives. ''Frederick" was 
a title chosen by its composer, George Kingsley, be- 
cause it was dedicated to the Rev. Frederick T. Gray. 
The Rev. Samuel Rutherford, a much-persecuted 
Scotch nonconformist of the seventeenth century, 
wrote the hynrn 'The sands of time are sinking'' which 
was long sung to the tune "Rutherford." In our 
Hymnal the tune is used to other words. 

Forty-five of our tunes are named after saints, 
following a method of nomenclature especially popular 
with the English composers. This is less than half 
the number of saintly titles in either the Wesleyan 
Methodist Hymn Book or the Hutchins Hymnal. 
Here again Dykes is represented by eight, and Barnby 



212 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

and Sullivan by four each. Many of these saints are 
unfamiliar to most of us, and, indeed, some probably 
never received canonization outside of a hynm book. 
Some of our tune titles give only the name, and omit 
the word ^ 'Saint," which often precedes it in other 
hjnunals. For instance, our tune "Jude," written by 
the English composer, William H. Jude, is usually 
called elsewhere ''St. Jude," though the saintly title 
need not argue any relationship between the com- 
poser and the "three-named disciple." ''St. Ger- 
trude" (Onward, Christian soldiers!) was dedicated by 
Sir Arthur Sullivan to Mrs. Gertrude Clay Ker-Seymer, 
at whose home in Hanford he was a guest when it was 
written. Here he wrote also our tune "Hanford." 

Many of these saints' names have been given to 
tunes from the names of the churches in which the 
composers at the time have been organists or musical 
directors. In "St. Oswald" Church, Durham, Dr. 
Dykes for years was vicar, and is now buried there. 
His son, a professor at the Royal College of Music, was 
named John St. Oswald Dykes. Sir George J. Elvey, 
succeeding H. Skeats, Jr., was organist from 1835 to 
1882 at "St. George's, Windsor." William Croft was 
appointed organist at "St. Anne's" at Soho, when the 
new organ was erected in 1700. 

Other titles have been taken from churches. "As- 
bury" was composed by the late Claude W. Harring- 
ton for a celebration in Asbury Methodist Episcopal 
Church, Rochester, NeAV York. "Sardis" was one of 
the seven churches mentioned in the New Testament. 

Nearly a hundred of the titles are the names of 



THE TITLES OF THE TUNES 213 

towns or cities. Five of these are mentioned in the 
Bible. ''Nicsea" was a town in Asia Minor where the 
Ecumenical Council of A. D. 325 established and 
developed the doctrine of the Trinity. Hence our 
hymn to the Trinity, ''Holy, holy, holy," gives the tune 
its name, ''Nicsea." Most of the town names are in 
Great Britain. England reciprocates, however; for 
in the Primitive Methodist Hyronal we note that our 
''Webb" is called "New York," our "Hamburg" 
called "Boston," to which are also added a "St. Louis," 
two "Brooklyns," and even a "Paterson." 

Some of the town-names denote the composer's 
birthplace, as "Holmfirth," a town in the West Riding 
of Yorkshire, where the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Gill was 
born, and "Racine" near the birthplace of Professor 
Lutkin. "Rotterdam" was the birthplace of Bcr- 
thold Tours, the composer. His tunes "Gouda" 
and "De venter" also derive their titles from towns in 
his native land of Holland. "Kolding," "Copen- 
hagen," and "Kiel," all in Denmark, are the birth- 
places respectively of Professor Lutkin's father, 
mother, and the great-grandfather of Mrs. Lutkin. The 
first of these tunes is sung to a hymn about the great- 
est of all birthplaces, Bethlehem. "Middletown," 
Connecticut, the seat of Wesleyan University, has 
been for years the home of Professor C. T. Winchester, 
composer of the melody of that name; and it is also 
the home of Professor Karl P. Harrington, arranger of 
the harmony. 

"Prescott" and "Belleville" are towns in Canada, 
with which the history of Mrs. Lutkin's family is con- 



214 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

nected. ^^Orono/' Maine, the seat of the University 
of Maine, was for years the home of Professor Karl P. 
Harrington. Barnby was organist from 1871 to 1886 
at Saint Anne's, ^^Soho," where he instituted the great 
annual Bach Festival. The new tunes ^'Nashville,'' 
"Plymouth," and ^Washington" commemorate in 
their titles the cities where the Joint Commission met 
in preparing the Hymnal, and '^Evanston" a meeting 
place of the Committee on Tunes. It is unfortunate 
that other tunes of these same four names exist in 
other hymnals. "Hursley" was the place where John 
Keble, author of "The Christian Year," and ''Sun of 
my soul," was vicar from 1835 until his death in 1866. 

Of over a score of tunes named after countries or 
States, three are mentioned in the Bible: ''Gilead," 
"Goshen," "Judea"; and nine others indicate the 
nationality of their composers. Also by titles taken 
from the names of cities, the composer's nationality is 
sometimes indicated. "Crimea" has no special signifi- 
cance save as it illustrates the fondness of the com- 
poser, Mr. Thoro Harris, for geographical nomencla- 
tures, especially those of unusual flavor. Some of his 
titles in other hymnals are, "Takoma," "Sligo," 
"Berwyn," "Arizona," "Oklahoma," "Benning," "An- 
acostia," and "Quebec." 

Half of the eight mountains or hills named in the 
tune titles are in the Bible. The river "Jordan," the 
brook "Kedron," and the pool of "Siloam" are scrip- 
tural waters. It had been more appropriate to the 
words if the titles "Bethel" and "Bethany" were 
interchanged. "Bethel," the place of Jacob's dream, 



THE TITLES OF THE TUNES 215 

is the name of the tune to ''My faith looks up to thee, 
Thou Lamb of Calvary"; while ''Bethany," which is 
situated on the slope of the Mount of Olives, is the 
name of the tune to "Nearer, my God, to thee," founded 
upon Jacob's dream. 

It is interesting to observe the methods of tune- 
naming peculiar to certain composers. We have 
already noted the Anglican fondness for Latin and for 
saintly titles, and the geographical tastes of Mr. Harris. 
Richard Redhead was accustomed to use his own name 
and a number. Thus our "Gethsemane" was origi- 
nally known as "Redhead No. 76," as it still appears in 
the Episcopal hymnals along with four other Redhead 
numbers. Lightwood in his book on tunes has called 
our attention to Dykes's fondness for naming tunes 
after places associated with incidents in his life. He 
says that Dykes's career may be traced in the names 
he gave to some of his tunes. Among these our 
"Hollingside" is notable as the name of Dykes's 
cottage, about a mile from Durham. Dykes once 
named a tune "Sekyd" — his own name spelled back- 
ward. The Rev. N. Cumock, he also tells us, chose 
for many of the tunes of the new Wesleyan Methodist 
Hymn Book names associated with the early history 
of Methodism, as "Castle Street," where stood for 
many years the Methodist Publishing House; "St. 
Antholin," the London church, where John Wesley 
preached so often; "Gwennap," the pit in Cornwall 
famous for the Wesley services; "Moorfields" and 
"Aldergate Street," where many of the greatest 
Methodist meetings were held in the earlier days. 



216 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

The musical editors of the Methodist Hjnnnal have 
followed this precedent in the tune title, "City Road.'' 
Lightwood's notice of A. H. Mann's fondness for 
classical names is borne out by two titles in our index, 
"Silesius" and "Claudius." Thus from personal asso- 
ciations and tastes, or the ideas expressed in their 
hjnnns, has been wrought out for the tunes a series of 
titles that has puzzled many a devout Methodist as he 
has scanned the Index of Tunes. 



CHAPTER X 
DESCRIPTIVE MUSIC 

Its Emotional Function — Sequence of Emotion — Musi- 
cal Characteristics — Onomatopoeia, Fitness 
OF Music to Words 

A BATTLE has been raging of late years in the musi- 
cal world over the question of the descriptive powers 
of music. The thickest of the fight has centered about 
"programme music." This usually consists in a sym- 
phonic treatment of some legend or poem, so closely 
describing in music its sequence of events as to enable 
the listener by means of a printed programme to 
follow the action described by the orchestra. One 
school scorns programme music as decadent. The 
function of music is to depict emotion; and the high 
office of pure music, they insist, is perverted by relat- 
ing it to events rather than emotions. The other 
school, who for the time seem to be in the majority, 
ardently hail programme music as the music of the 
future, and some devotees bow down to Richard 
Strauss as its prophet. They would justify their 
position by citing the song, the oratorio, and the 
opera, wherein the music aims to depict the emotions 
expressed in the words; and they triumphantly quote 
Wagner's famous phrase concerning "the fertilization 
of modem music by poetry." Over these points the 
programmists and absolutists break lances. In spite 
of definite convictions as to how long programme music 

217 



218 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

will maintain its vogue, we must be content merely to 
have mentioned this great controversy in introducing 
this subject. 

In the hymn tune, of course, there is no such minute 
description of events or emotions possible: firstly, 
because the hymn tune is practically the smallest 
complete musical form; and, secondly, because the 
many verses of a hymn, that must be sung, each verse 
to the same music, often evoke entirely different 
emotions, so that a tune that would emotionally 
describe one verse might be entirely foreign to the 
other verses. 

We have in the Methodist Hymnal, however, some 
good examples of the correspondence of the music to 
each verse of the hymn. Let us examine, for instance, 
the hymn 'Tierce raged the tempest" (485). There 
is a striking contrast in the poetic emotion between the 
first half and the second half of each verse. It is the 
contrast between tempest and calm. The music has 
depicted this contrast. The whole of the first line of 
the music is in the minor mode, the rhythm is agitated, 
and in the upward tossing of the bass upon the ascend- 
ing sixteenth notes in the first four measures one may 
feel the furious rolling of the waves. But in the 
second half the music entirely changes to correspond 
with the change in the words. The harmony is 
quickly resolved into the relative major key, bringing 
reassurance : the rhythm gradually calms down from 
three notes in the measures to two notes, and finally 
on the words, "Calm and still," to only one note in 
each measure, while the melody at last ends on the 



DESCRIPTIVE MUSIC 



219 



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And storm-winds drift us from the shore. 
Say, lest we sink (o rise no more, 
"Peace, be still." 

— Godfrey Thring. 



220 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

third note of the scale, which ending usually denotes 
confidence. 

Dr. John B. Dykes's melody "St. Andrew of Crete'' 
(616) to the words, "Christian! dost thou see 
them?'' represents a similar contrast, sustained 
throughout each verse. In three verses the first four 
lines offer some tempting question, which is answered 
in the strength of faith by the words of the last four 
lines. In the last verse the contrast is marked be- 
tween the weariness of toil and the glorious reward for 
toil. These contrasts the music follows with great 
emotional power. The harmony of the first eight 
measures is in C minor; of the last eight in C major. 
The melody of the first part creeps along with hesitant 
steps of small intervals, never going higher than C, 
emphasizing the fifth note in the scale, and finally 
ending on the fifth, which as a final note depicts un- 
certainty. The melody of the second part, on the 
other hand, is militant, beginning with intervals of a 
fourth, a fifth, and a sixth; and it bounds forward 
triumphantly like a valiant Christian soldier about to 
smite the foe. 

"Vox Dilecti" (304) to the words, "I heard the voice 
of Jesus say," is another example of a melody whose 
first eight measures are in minor, while the last eight 
are in major, thus illustrating a contract in the words. 
Each verse presents in its first part the invitation of 
Jesus, reminding the human soul of weariness (first 
verse), thirst (second verse), and darkness (third 
verse). The acceptance comes in the second part of 
each verse, discovering rest (first verse), water (second 



DESCRIPTIVE MUSIC 



221 



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222 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

verse), and light (third verse). The cautious and the 
spirited rhythms, the plaintive and the joyful melodies 
contrasted in the two parts of this tune, bring the 
invitation and the acceptance into strong musical 
relief. Even within the second half, the climax which 
the music develops corresponds exactly with that of 
the words, both reaching their culmination in the 
third measure from the end on the words ^ ^resting 
place," "soul revived," and "life." 

There is somewhat of a contrast, though not so 
marked, within some of the verses of Charles Wesley's 
"Jesus, Lover of my soul." In the first half of the first 
verse "waters roll" and "tempest high" are compared 
with "storm of life is past" in the second half; likewise 
in the second verse "helpless soul, alone" contrasts 
with "my trust, my help." Here, as in the preceding 
examples, the contrast is reproduced in the music of 
Joseph Barnby's tune "St. Fabian" (463) by setting 
the first half in G minor and the second half in G major. 

Although the sequence of emotions within a verse 
cannot always be reflected in the music, for the reasons 
cited above, a good hymn tune should portray, or at 
least be consistent with, the dominant emotion of the 
hymn. Various elements conspire to produce this 
harmony between words and music. Let us consider 
first the use of the minor mode. 

In the present Hymnal there are nineteen tunes 
using the minor. Eight of these begin in the minor and 
end in the major (Nos. 151— second tune, 304, 403, 
464, 485, 616, 747). The other eleven begin and end 
also in the minor (Nos. 4, 152, 155, 254, 270, 273, 380, 



DESCRIPTIVE MUSIC 223 

476, 580, 595, 603) . It is no accident that ten of these 
melodies of the minor mode are set to hymns under the 
following classifications: ''Sufferings and Death of 
Christ/' '' Warnings and Invitations," ''Repentance," 
"Brevity and Uncertainty of Life," "Death, and 
Judgment" ("Day of Wrath"), subjects that lend 
themselves most appropriately to the minor mode. 
Four of these we have already cited (Nos. 304, 464, 
485, 616). Of the remaining five hymns the first lines 
suggest the reasons for setting them to tunes of the 
minor mode. They are: "0 bitter shame and sor- 
sow" (380); "Defend us. Lord, from every ill" (403); 
"Slowly, slowly darkening," the sunset of life (464) ; 
"Leave God to order all thy ways, ... in the evil 
days" (476); and "The God of Abraham praise"(4). 
This last hymn tune, the naming of which we have re- 
ferred to elsewhere, is a Hebrew melody, and is natur- 
ally in the minor mode, which predominates in Hebrew 
music. 

Besides these melodies that are distinctly in the 
minor, there are several hynm tunes that contain so 
many chords based upon the minor triads that thoy 
partake somewhat of that plaintive effect so charac- 
teristic of the minor mode. Of this class we give but a 
few of the many examples: "Asleep in Jesus" (583), 
"Mourn for the thousands slain" (698), "0 that I 
could repent" (265). The first line of each of these 
hymns proclaims its appropriateness to a tune with 
minor harmonies. 

A tender, plaintive effect is produced by the use of 
a series of consecutive thirds in the upper parts; that 



224 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

is, the soprano and alto singing in parallel lines only 
two notes apart. This is made especially effective by 
ending the tune on the third note of the scale, as may 
be felt in hearing the following examples: ^'When I 
survey the wondrous cross" (141); '^Jesus, thy blood 
and righteousness" — Sufferings and Death of Christ 
(148); ^'0 that I could repent" (265); ''One sweetly 
solemn thought" (620). To these may be added ''By 
cool Siloam's shady rill" (678) as fitting to the tender 
suggestions of childhood for the reason just stated. 
There are also a number of hymns that successfully 
use the series of consecutive thirds to produce plain- 
tive effects which end on the tonic, or first note in the 
scale, as, for instance, the communion hymn (239); 
"0 Love divine, that stooped to share. Our sharpest 
pang" (457) ; "Unveil thy bosom, faithful tomb" (586) ; 
"Shall man, God of light and life. Forever molder in 
the grave?" (596.) 

The martial hymns, calling to arms, are usually set 
to music having a firm and even rhythm. The inter- 
vals are wider than in the intervals of prayer tunes, 
and the melody tends to follow the chord-lines, as we 
are reminded by the tunes set to "Go forward, 
Christian soldier" (387); "Soldiers of the cross, 
arise" (385); "Onward, Christian soldiers" (383); 
and "We march, we march to victory" (418). In 
the last two examples the bass, especially in the 
chorus, seems to imitate the tramping of soldiers. 
A peculiar device to represent a trumpet call is 
often used in music, and it appears in some of our 
martial hymn tunes. It may be described in tech- 



DESCRIPTIVE MUSIC 



225 



nical terms of harmony as follows : While the soprano 
is descending three whole tones, some other part, as 
the alto or bass, also descends, making a major 
third with the first note of the soprano, a perfect 
fifth with the second, and a minor sixth with the 
third, and the same intervals with the same notes 
as they ascend to the original note, thus: 



i 



:|fe= 



P=4 



-W;- 



t 



For - ward 



to 



bat 



tie!.. 



« 



I 



^S: 



m 



-^ 



-^ 



-— r-^-1 • — t- — ^ 

I. My soul, be on thy guard. 



Ptfc^ 



^ 



i 



^ 



You may hear this trumpet call in these two ex- 
amples taken respectively from the thirteenth and 
fourteenth measures of ''Onward, Christian soldiers!" 
(383) between the soprano and bass to the words, 
"Forward into battle," and from the first six chords 
of "My soul be on thy guard" (493— first tune). We 
choose to believe that this device was not used in 
these places by chance. 

A striking characteristic of the tunes of the morn- 
ing hymns is that the melody tends to ascend. 



226 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

Naturally, it cannot ascend on every step, but there 
is a distinct upward tendency that may be easily 
recognized in the following examples: ''When morn- 
ing gilds the skies" (32), ''Hail to the Sabbath day" 
(66), "Welcome, delightful morn" (67 — second tune), 
"0 day of rest and gladness" (68), "Lord of the 
Sabbath, hear our vows" (73). If we regard Addi- 
son's "The spacious firmament on high" (84) as a 
hymn on the morning of creation, Haydn's melody 
may then be said to be an excellent example of the 
upward tendency of the morning hymn. All of 
this is not without its psychological reason; for as 
the sun ascends the sky, and as our bodies rise from 
rest and sleep, so our consciousness and emotional 
life in the morning feels the upward tendency of the 
beginning of the day. 

For the converse reason the melodies of the 
evening hjmms tend to descend. When the flowers 
are closing and the sunhght is fading, our conscious- 
ness descends toward quiet and repose. A reflection 
of this "shadow of turning" may be seen in the 
following examples, in which should be observed 
also two other characteristics of the evening hymn — 
a fuller use of the chord of the dominant seventh, 
and also a very narrow range for the melody. The 
plaintive effect of the dominant seventh is akin to 
the pensive sadness of the twilight hour. The upper 
notes of melody are less singable when mind and 
body are approaching a state of rest, when our 
lungs inhale less deeply, and our emotions are 
quieter. "Abide with me" (50), which illustrates all 



DESCRIPTIVE MUSIC 227 

of these points, does not in melody wander beyond 
the interval of a fifth. Likewise the whole melody 
of ^'Now the day is over" (59) is confined within the 
interval of a fourth, and not more than five of the 
twenty-four notes lie beyond E and F. ''Slowly, 
slowly darkening" (464 — second tune) is also within 
the range of a fourth, save for two low notes at the 
end. ^Teace, perfect peace" (528), a hymn for the 
evening of life, contains twenty-one notes, and all 
but seven of these are on G or A. This same dif- 
ference in the range of the melody may be observed 
between joyful and sad melodies, and between vig- 
orous and quiet tunes. 

The contrast between conjunct and disjunct 
melody should represent a wider difference of emo- 
tional content in our h3TTin tunes than is sometimes 
observed by composers and editors. Our Hymnal 
contains many excellent examples of this distinction. 
Disjimct melody follows, for the most part, the 
chord-line, using intervals that are as wide as the 
intervals of the chord, so that if several successive 
notes of the melody are sounded simultaneously, 
they form a good chord. Some of the best examples 
are: "Dennis" (100), ''Regent Square" (25), "Pleyel's 
Hymn" (35 and 248), "Horton" (248), "Consecra- 
tion" (348), "Geer" (376), "Gratitude" (410), "Mait- 
land" (557), "Jewett" (524), "Warwick" (41), 
"Nicaea" (78). The hymns to which these disjunct 
melodies are set usually express sentiments of joy, 
contentment, activity or exaltation of spirit. And 
where these express ideas emotionally foreign to 



228 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

such sentiments, there is usually not a complete 
correspondence between words and music. 

Conjunct melody, on the other hand, follows to a 
greater degree the scale line, makes less frequent 
use of wide intervals, and uses passing notes more 
freely. Emotionally, it is better adapted to pur- 
poses in contrast to those of disjunct melody. 

They who delight in the musical depiction of 
material objects or episodes may without too great 
an exercise of the imagination find some examples 
of the onomatopoeia of music among our hymn 
tunes. Just as in poetry there are sometimes used 
onomatopoetic words, which upon being pronounced 
imitate the sound described by the word, as ^'hiss," 
^'buzz,'' '^crackle'' (of a fire), etc., so there is some- 
times an onomatopoeia of music, that imitates or 
describes the words to which it is simg. How appro- 
priate may be this device to the true purpose of 
music is a question akin to the problem of programme 
music. Its ardent defenders are quick to cite Bee- 
thoven's imitation of the lowing of a cow in one of 
his symphonies. 

One critic, after playing Parry's great tune to 
*'In age and feebleness extreme" (746), exclaimed, 
^^You can see the old man halting on his staff." 

The harmony of the first four measures of "Thou 
hidden Source of calm repose" (466) describes well 
the thought of the first line of the hymn. There is a 
suggestion of hiding in the harmony of the first four 
chords, as they fold over from the tonic to the un- 
resolved chord on B flat; but the quick return to 



DESCKIPTIVE MUSIC 229 

the tonic triad on F seals the impression of repose, 
because this is the one chord denoting rest, to which 
every restless chord must resolve. On the opposite 
page of the Hymnal, "Cast thy burden on the Lord" 
(468) is another example of the same effect of re- 
pose, wrought out in the first member of the first 
phrase. In the next hymn (469) some musicians 
may refuse to see waving woods and rolling oceans 
in the waving and rolling of the melody, or to admit 
that in hymn 112 (first tune) the next to the last 
measure imitates in the alto and tenor the rocking 
of a cradle, where the word cradle occurs in that line 
m three out of the four verses; but, nevertheless, the 
suggestion is there whether wittingly or not. 

In "Saviour, again to thy dear name" (38) a con- 
trast is made in the music between the thought of 
"We stand to bless thee" and "Then, lowly kneeling, 
wait thy word of peace." This last line of the first 
verse is echoed in the music, as the effect of waiting 
or expectancy is produced by ending the melody with 
four notes on the fifth (which ending is very rare). 
To the words "Not only when ascends the song, 
And soundeth sweet the word" (520) is sung a mel- 
ody that begins on F, and steadily ascends through- 
out the first half of the tune to E, so that while the 
congregation is singing of the song that ascends, their 
own voices are actually ascending the scale. One 
needs to observe only the name of the tune, which 
is "Ascending Song," to be convinced that this 
device was intentional. 

Let us not dwell too long, however, upon the 



230 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

many possible examples of this ^'onomatopcBia of 
music;" for these are elements that appeal to sensa- 
tion rather than real musical emotion, and may be 
regarded merely as the curiosities of psalmody, or, 
when they are not purely accidental, as the tricks 
of musical composition. 

The real importance in musical description is that 
composers and editors preserve the emotional cor- 
respondence between words and music and apply 
the great principles governing this relation. There 
should be no caprice in the use of conjunct and 
disjunct melody, in the selection of modes, rhythm, 
or tonal relations, or in the choice of harmonies 
with which the melody is clothed. Melody should 
aim not at external effect, but should seek to reach 
the inmost emotion of the soul. 

From this it will be seen that in the work of joining 
music and words there is vastly more required of 
musical editorship than merely the ability to dis- 
cover music of the same meter as the words, and to 
make this the basis of the union, else editorship is 
not worthy of the name. Many hymnals, however, 
have disregarded the most common laws of metrical 
accent in uniting words and music. To avoid these 
infelicities the Hymnal Commission has set some 
hymns to different music. Professor Stuart, in an 
article on the Hymnal, says that one of the reasons 
for adding the tune ''Sawley" for the words "Jesus, 
the very thought of thee" was that in singing the 
words to the former tune, "Holy Cross," it was 
necessary to accent the second syllable of the name 



DESCEIPTIVE MUSIC 231 

"Jesus* ^ in the first and the last verses. The new- 
tune corrects this, while the old tune remains in the 
Hymnal as optional. There are still instances in 
which the time is ill-suited to the accents in the 
poetry, sometimes unavoidably owing to the irregu- 
lar accent of the poetry. For example, "ShawTiiut" 
(265) throughout the tune accents the first syllable 
of each line, to which it is sung. But in reading the 
hymn one would hardly accent "with" and "a," as 
the melody now compels us to do three times to each 
word. 

Some critics of the new Hymnal have expressed 
surprise that a new tune besides the old ''An- 
tioch" should be added to the words, "Joy to 
the world." But they would wonder less if they 
w^ould sing the "wonder" of the last line of the hymn 
to the old time with this ludicrous efi"ect: 

"And won — and wonders of his love." 

The new tune metrically fits the words, as the 
old tune does not. The new tune to the words, "Just 
as I am, without one plea," also fits the words, as 
the old does not, and besides possesses a dignity 
and real musical merit, which was conspicuouc>ly 
lacking in "Woodworth." The sacred name "Jesus" 
occurs as the first word in sixty-seven difTerent 
verses in the Hynmal; but in nineteen of these the 
music makes it necessary to accent the second sylla- 
ble, as well as in nine other places, where the name 
is sung. In one hymn (222) this occurs three times. 
Likewise "Father" is accented on the ultimate too 



232 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

many times. Sometimes the sense suffers from this 
mispronunciation, as in singing 'Welcome, delightful 
morn,'' to the tune Lischer (67) one must exclaim, 
'Well, come!" as though the wished-for day had 
not yet arrived, and were still in the future tense of 
that other hymn, "Well, the delightful day will 
come" (540). 

It is curious that the Preface of the 1878 Hymnal, 
and also of the present Hymnal, both refer to the 
union of words and music as a "marriage," and still 
more curious that both Prefaces speak also of the 
''divorce" of words and music. Some hymnal mar- 
riages truly seem to have been made in heaven. We 
cannot speak thus of all of our Methodist hymns, 
though many of them seem to have been inspired 
in the union of words and music. But of the Hymnal 
as a whole, and of the appropriate joining of melodies 
and poems, we may truly say that it is in violent 
contrast to the work of the haphazard matrimonial 
agencies that carelessly assemble certain communi- 
ties of tunes and verses and boldly call them hymn 
books. 



CHAPTER XI 

THE FORMAL ELEMENTS OF THE MUSIC 

The Keys — Vocal Range — Unit Forms — Repetition and 
Imitation — Harmony 

The Methodist Hymnal affords the student of 
music an opportunity to observe practically all of 
the simple elements of melody, harmony, and form; 
and a critical analysis of the hymn tune, the smallest 
complete musical form, can be made very profitable 
as an elementary study. 

In reading a piece of music the first thing to be 
observed is the signature, or the number of sharps 
and flats immediately following the clef sign, de- 
noting the particular key in which the music is 
written. Although thirteen different keys are avail- 
able in music, each one of our h5min tunes begins in 
one of ten keys, no more than four sharps or five 
flats being used as a signature ; and each of our tunes 
ends in the same key in which it began, except a 
few tunes beginning in the minor mode, that end 
in the major. 

The following table shows the number of tunes 
written in each key in the two great Methodist col- 
lections on both sides of the Atlantic : 

Methodist Hymnal (America) 

G El> F Ab Bb C D A E Db 

137 128 98 85 72 67 61 55 31 30 
233 



234 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

Methodist Hymn Book (Great Britain) 

Eb G F D E A C Bl^ Ab Db 
213 156 134 121 94 84 83 71 69 9 

From this it will be observed that the most popu- 
lar keys in both collections, G, Eb, and F, are those 
of which the tonic and dominant lie within the range 
of the usual speaking voice. Among the remaining 
keys, the Americans seem to have a decided prefer- 
ence for flats. 

Investigations in the field of musical aesthetics 
have led to the acceptance of the law that the sev- 
eral keys are respectively adapted to express certain 
emotions peculiar to their own nature. Emil Pauer 
declares that ''the key in music is what color is in 
painting," a fact recognized by Plato and Aristotle. 
Thus, he finds that the key of C major best expresses 
innocence, resolve, manly, earnest, and deep reli- 
gious feeling; F major reflects peace, joy, religious 
sentiment, or passing regret; G major reveals 
sincere faith, quiet love, calm meditation, simple 
grace, or brightness; D major proclaims majesty, 
grandeur, pomp; A major voices confidence, 
loving hope, simple cheerfulness; E major tells 
of joy, magnificence, splendor; Ab major is full 
of sentiment, dreamy expression; Eb major gives 
great variety from solemnity and courage to brilliance 
and dignity; Bb major is the key of open frankness, 
clear brightness, quiet contemplation. For this 
theory in aesthetics psychology has never given a 
satisfactory reason. Certain experiments tend to 
disprove that this difference in the tone-color of the 



FOEMAL ELEMENTS OF THE MUSIC 235 

keys is produced by absolute pitch, while, on the other 
hand, the tempered scale should leave no differences 
between scales, save that of pitch. But the fact 
remains that in the various keys a difference of 
emotional adaptability exists, and is recognized by 
nearly all true musicians. The best composers ob- 
serve this principle in their work. Our hymn tunes 
illustrate in many instances a psychological nicety 
in the choice of keys. 

Some composers, however, have utterly disre- 
garded the fitness of the keys to the emotional 
intent of their hymns, while some tunes, as they 
have run the gantlet of successive editors, have 
been frequently changed from their original keys. 
Every melody must be brought within the range of 
the average soprano; for when it soars too high it is 
unfitted for congregational singing. Frequently this 
change from the composer's original key mars the 
tone-color of the tune. 

Several tunes in the old Hymnals, North and South, 
have been changed as to their key in the new Hjrni- 
nal. Some tunes appear in the new Hjnmnal in two 
different keys, as, for instance, ^'Regent Square," 
sung to hymns 113 and 169 in the key of C, which 
is emotionally preferable, and to hymns 25 and 662 
in the key of Bb, which is more comfortable for 
timid sopranos. 

Between the Methodist Hymnal and the Meth- 
odist Hymn Book of England there is a difference in 
the choice of key for the same tune in about forty 
instances. In four fifths of these differences, the 



236 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

English book has chosen the higher key, as in the 
case of Carey's ''National Hymn" (our "America"), 
to which the Englishman chants his patriotism 
a full major third higher than the American, 
singing in the key of A instead of our F. Thus 
in the matter of keys, as in other elements of 
hymnology, the Wesleyan Church has followed, 
more closely than we, the advice of John Wesley, 
who urged that Methodist hymns be sung in 
a high key in order to reach the full vigor of 
expression. 

As we have noted, however, the range of melody 
should not exceed the average compass of the 
ordinary soprano in the congregation. The octave 
from E to E in the treble clef is the limit of com- 
fortable singing for the usual congregation; and 
melodies that keep well within this limit have at 
least the benefit of simple range to help them attain 
popularity. 'The Star-Spangled Banner" might, in- 
deed, be our national song, were it not for its un- 
comfortable range of an octave plus a fifth. Our 
tune ''Ewing" for "Jerusalem the golden," with an 
octave plus a third, leaves many a singer stranded 
high and dry before the sixth line is sung, while the 
greatly inferior tune "Martyn" to "Jesus, Lover of 
my soul" can be easily sung by a small child. The 
compass of the three lower voices need not affect the 
choice of key; but, by skill in harmonizing, these 
parts should be confined to certain average limits, 
the alto within the octave from A to A, the tenor 
within E and E, and the bass within G and C. 



FOKMAL ELEMENTS OF THE MUSIC 237 

Trained choirs can comfortably exceed these limits, 
but not congregations. 

The Hymnal may be used as a profitable text- 
book in the study of the smaller forms of music. 
The form of nearly all of our hynm tunes is known 
as the period form. In its simplicity, a period con- 
sists of two phrases of four measures each, or eight 
measures in all. While the musical phrase in its 
regular form consists of four measures, it may be 
extended to five, six, or seven measures, or con- 
tracted to three, or in certain meters to two, the 
end of the phrase being denoted by a cadence (the 
resolution of the harmony into a common chord on 
the keynote). 

Of these many phrase-forms there are abundant 
examples among our hymn tunes, and to determine 
to a nicety the nature of each phrase is a mental 
exercise profitable and interesting to the student 
who has mastered the principles of phrase-formation.^ 

The phrase, however, is not a complete musical 
form. The period, or one-part form, is the imit of 
complete form in music. When regular it consists 
of two phrases, such as we have described. Nearly 
all of our hymn tunes are in the period form, and, 
owing to the variations in its two component parts, 
the period form assumes a variety of lengths and 
shapes in our psalmody. There are some examples 
of two-part forms, especially among the English 
hymn tunes. Among these may be classed most of 



*Cf. "The Homophonio Forms of Musical Composition," Perry 
Goetachius. 



238 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

the tunes with refrain, the second part being the 
refrain. A very few of the tunes are in three-part 
form, the third part being a repetition of the first 
part, as 'The Good Fight'' (418). 

These three compass all the forms exemplified 
regularly in our Hymnal. Some of the times seem 
to bear evidence of the composer's lack of familiarity 
with the laws of form. Still others are difficult to 
analyze, as "Ein' Feste Burg." 

As an aesthetic principle, repetition is regarded as 
pleasing in art. This is especially evident in music 
and architecture, although poetry and painting and 
the other arts also frequently illustrate this prin- 
ciple. Many of our hymn melodies make effective 
and pleasing use of repetition. Only a few of the 
tunes repeat exactly both melody and harmony of 
the first phrase, as ''Ein' Feste Burg" (101), ''Holy 
Spirit, faithful Guide" (193), and "Maidstone" (469), 
the last example repeating not only the first eight 
measures, but also the second four at the end. Repe- 
tition to be most effective must be not exact, but 
should be combined with variation. In larger forms 
of music this variation is wrought out in rhythm, 
in form, in orchestration, and a thousand possible 
embellishments; in the simple hymn tune by (1) dif- 
ference at the end of the repeated phrase, or (2) in 
the harmony; or by imitation of the melody, (3) in 
contrary motion, or (4) in the sequence. 

(1) In the hymns Nos. 8, 36, 60, 127, 194, 195, 
615, and 689 may be found a repetition in the mel- 
ody of most of the phrase, but a difference at the 



FOEMAL ELEMENTS OF THE MUSIC 239 

end of the repeated phrase, and often in the few 
notes preceding and preparing the cadence. Some- 
times in a repeated melody the variation extends 
farther back than this, as in Nos. 27, 53, 66, 78, 431, 
621, 640, 675. 

(2) A repetition in the melody with a change in 
the harmony is becoming more and more the custom 
to-day, especially in the English tunes. Many com- 
posers of the older school would have made no har- 
monic change in repeating the melody; and even in 
the contemporary tunes this has been consistently 
avoided by some composers, as, for example, Richard 
Redhead. Nevertheless, it adds to the richness of 
the music, and is aesthetically good usage. In illus- 
tration of this, note the beautiful effect which the 
composer has produced by clothing the melody of a 
phrase in different harmony, when repeated in the fol- 
lowing hymns: Nos. 30, 84 (second half), 97, and also 
where only a part of the phrase is repeated, as in 
Nos. 15, 77, 109, 199, 324, 406, 463 (first), 545 
(first). 

(3) Imitation is sometimes made by inverting the 
melody. While there are no examples in the Hymnal 
of a whole phrase being repeated in contrary motion, 
parts of the melody are often repeated in inverted 
form. The "Italian Hymn" (2) is planned through- 
out upon this principle. The thirteenth measure is 
but an imitation of the first and seventh upside down ; 
the tenth and twelfth a repetition of the fourth; the 
fifteenth a repetition of the ninth and the eleventh, 
to each of which measures, together with the first 



240 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

note of the following measure, the second and third 
are similarly related. Thus, ten out of the twelve 
active measures of this melody are involved in the 
principle of repetition. 

(4) The most interesting form of imitative repe- 
tition is that of sequence (literally * 'following"), 
wherein the melody is repeated not upon the same 
notes as before, but upon other notes that lie one or 
more tones higher or lower than the original phrase 
or figure. In many hymns the melody of the very 
first figure is repeated in sequence, as in Nos. 161, 522, 
566, 591, 603, 704. In others, not only the first 
figure, but also other figures, are thus repeated : Nos. 
10, 62, 118, 298, 574, 578, 709. In still others the figure 
to be repeated in sequence begins the second half of the 
tune : Nos. 48, 130, 382, 387, 456, 518, 525. Sometimes 
the figure is so small as to lie within the compass of 
one measure, and is repeated in sequence several times 
in other measures: Nos. 63 (measures 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 
and also in the tenor part), 157, 192 (measures 2, 3, 

8, 9, 10, 11), 224 (measures 8, 9, 10, 11), 362 (meas- 
ures 7, 8, 9), 452 (measures 9, 10, 11), 515 (measures 

9, 10, 11).' 

The tune "America" (702) illustrates both se- 
quence and inverted imitations. Hymn tunes Nos. 57, 
68, 640, and many others, illustrate both repetition 
and sequence. In fact, such frequent use is made of 
repetitions in various forms that there is scarcely a 
tune in the Hymnal that does not employ them to 



1 (The number of the measures is computed from the beginning of the 
first full measure.) 



FORMAL ELEMENTS OF THE MUSIC 241 

bind the unity of the melody, and to satisfy the 
aesthetic demand for repetition in art. 

The harmony of the h}Tim tunes is richer and 
more varied than in previous Methodist collections, 
and the enrichment proceeds chiefly from the Eng- 
lish contributions to our psahnody. It may be said 
also that the harmony of the new book is more 
logical and, for the most part, more correct. Such 
banahties in harmony as consecutive perfect fifths 
or octaves, augmented seconds, ascending sevenths 
or descending thirds in the chord of the dominant 
seventh, misspelling of chords — these demand edi- 
torial alertness to recognize and correct. Some- 
times a composer is justified in making an ex- 
ception to some rule of harmony, where there is 
good reason. Barnby, anxious to establish some 
ascending or descending line of melody in one of 
the three lower parts, or to follow some sequence, 
will often resolve a dominant seventh in unusual 
fashion. The first measures of "Love Divine" 
(355) and ''Dunstan" (272) make beautiful use of 
the otherwise forbidden consecutive octaves between 
t-enor and soprano. A few of the transgressions 
of these simple laws of harmony in the Hynmal 
seem not to be justifiable. 

We may not dwell upon the meaning and use of 
each chord; but let us noto one or two niceties of 
harmonic treatment that will serve to illustrate the 
importance of the harmony and its best usage. The 
chord of the dominant seventh has become of in- 
creasing importance in church music, since it was 



S42 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

first thoroughly estabUshed in the works of Monte- 
verde, in 1568/ It is the chord of longing, of aspira- 
tion, and demands speedy resolution to the common 
chord of satisfaction. It is less frequent in the slow, 
dignified music of the Reformation than in modern 
hymn tunes, wherein resolutions are made more 
rapidly. When it is consistently avoided, however, 
an effect of stately simplicity is heightened, just as 
in Salisbury Cathedral, built throughout in the early 
English style of architecture, the noblest beauty is 
produced by strong, simple lines unembellished by 
elaborations of the perpendicular style. ^'Marlow" 
(8), '^Winchester Old'' (181), and ''St. Anne" (214) 
contain no dominant sevenths, while "Dimdee" (96) 
and "Old Hundred" (16) contain only one each, 
and these were not originally so written. "Ewing" 
(612), "Cobern" (92), and '^Gilead" (202) have in- 
tentionally avoided the dominant seventh in several 
places. Most of our tunes, however, abound in the 
use of this rich chord, and, as was discussed in the 
preceding chapter, to the emotional enrichment of 
the music. 

In none of the "Amens" in the body of the Hymnal 
is the dominant seventh used. This is true because, 
curiously enough, not one "Amen" is written to an 
authentic cadence; for the plagal cadence is used in 
each of the 557 different tunes. While of the two 
forms the plagal cadence is by far the most 
common in the "Amens" of other hymnals, it is 



»Cf. "The Evolution of Church Music," by the Rev, F. J. Humphreys, 
p. 76. 



FORMAL ELEMENTS OF THE MUSIC 243 

very rarely that a book entirely omits the authentic 
cadence. 

All of the "Amens," with only fourteen excep- 
tions, end on the same note as the last note of the 
tune. And each ends on the same chord as the last 
chord of the tune, except where the tune ends in the 
minor mode, in which our editors have every time 
added a major cadence for the "Amen." 

The harmonies in our Hymnal are more close than 
one sometimes finds in the English Methodist Hymn 
Book. The tenor and bass rarely part company 
farther than an octave, nor the soprano and bass 
many notes over two octaves. There is still pre- 
served, however, a freedom of motion in all four 
parts. As a rule, the bass should move in opposite 
direction from the soprano, whenever possible and 
consistent with good harmony. A bass that runs 
along on one note robs the harmony many times of 
the interest it should have. In the best writing the 
bass part has a melody of its own to sing. Owing to 
the peculiar intervals into which the bass is often 
forced, the bass part could hardly be adapted for 
the chief melody of a hymn tune, but not so the 
tenor part. The student of harmony would find it 
a profitable exercise to select the tenor parts of the 
following hymns for the melody of a new hymn 
tune: ^^Cross of Jesus'' (98), ''Bremen" (476), "Ein' 
Feste Burg" (101), '^Nuremberg" (103), "St. Atha- 
nasius" (77), "Munich" (151); and in harmonizing 
this tenor melody they can be made to produce a 
beautiful new hymn tune. Such a harmonization of 



244 



MUSIC AND HYMNODT 



the tenor part of "Cross of Jesus" yields the follow- 
ing tjT)ical hymn tune: 

ta^ . I I ! +-ri — n- 




cT^n ^ 



mM=t^ 



s^ 



-#-#- 



^ 



-^F4^ 



r= 



?^ 



tzttrt 



t— r 



;fc^J=J= 



i-^ 



i 



-^-»^ 



E? 



^^^^^^ 



jO=^ 




^^ 



^ 



f 



^ 



V-* ' '* ri* d :— " 



PART IV 

PRACTICAL USES OF THE HYMNAL 



245 



CHAPTER XII 
HOW TO USE THE HYMNAL 

Preparation — Function of Hymns — Omitting Verses — 

The Choir — Gospel Hymns — Hymn Study 

Classes — Practical Plans Outlined 

The most essential condition for success in the 
intelligent use of the Hymnal in worship is prepara- 
tion. Formal worship cannot reach its highest effec- 
tiveness when a pastor habitually neglects to prepare 
his hymns. And the first step toward preparation 
should be a thorough general familiarity with the 
Hymnal. It is a Methodistic axiom that every pas- 
tor should know his Bible, his H3niinal, and his 
Discipline; and yet it is often taken for granted that 
the hasty search for six hymns on Saturday night is 
sufficient for a knowledge of the Hymnal. In more 
than one theological school it is urged that the 
students form the habit of spending at least one 
solid hour each week in the study of hymns and 
tunes, a habit to be profitably continued during 
active pastoral days. Only by earnest study can 
be gained a practical familiarity with the hymns, 
their theology, their meaning, their music, and their 
relative effectiveness in varied forms of worship. 
Later paragraphs in this chapter suggest some 
methods of study for the individual student, as well 
as for class study. 

This educational preparation once thoroughly ac- 

247 



248 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

complished, the choosing of hymns for particular 
services becomes something of the art which it 
deserves to be. In the more highly Uturgical churches 
supreme attention is apphed, as a rule, to the con- 
gregational hymns, the anthems, and the chants, 
and their appropriateness to the central thought of 
the occasion. This is made the more imperative 
because of the rigid regularity of the Church calendar 
of the Christian Year. But even where there is 
greater freedom in the forms of worship, as in 
Methodism, worshipers have a right to expect 
that the guidance of their spiritual thought through- 
out the service has been prepared beforehand with 
great care, and especially in the matter of hymn- 
singing. 

A spiritual unity can be produced throughout a 
service of worship by a careful and prayerful choice 
of hymns, each fitting the occasion and performing 
some definite function in the office of worship and 
instruction. 

Where there is carelessness or rude spontaneity in 
the choice of hymns, the fatal fitneSs of the hymn to 
the situation is sometimes painfully ludicrous. At 
Ossining, New York, during one meeting when the 
church was very cold, and it was deemed wise to 
shorten the service to protect the shivering congre- 
gation, some one inadvertently started this hynm, 

My all is on the altar, 
I'm waiting for the fire. 

A prominent member of the New Jersey Conference, 



HOW TO USE THE HYMNAL 249 

upon his return from his honeymoon, gave out from 
his pulpit the hynm containing the verse . 

O that I could forever sit 
With Mary at the Master's feet! 

Be this my happy choice, . . . 

To hear the Bridegroom's voice. 

His wife's name was Mary; and, of course, had he 
read the hymn through before choosing it, he would 
have spared himself the jests of his friends for years. 
Many such instances could be multiplied, were it not 
so unwise to load our hymns with these humorous 
associations. 

In contrast to all this, however, the very psy- 
chological principle of association that sometimes 
awakens the sense of humor can be and should be 
employed to intensify the spiritual thought and 
feeling of every service. This does not mean that 
each hynm should be an epitome of the sermon or 
its central ideas (though at least one such hymn is 
often very effective), but, rather, that a unity of 
purpose and feeling should be sustain ?.ed throughout 
the service, and that each hynm should be chosen 
to reenforce the dominant theme. 

Each hymn in the order of worship has a different 
psychological duty to perform. The function of the 
first hymn is clearly to create a spiritual atmosphere 
of reverence and a sense of Christian unity. Were 
each worshiper prepared for the service of the sanc- 
tuary by private devotions at home, the spirit of 
reverence would be more intense at the very begin- 
ning of the service. But this is rarely the case. The 



250 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

congregation usually assemble from their homes, 
where, perhaps, the last thoughts were of more care- 
ful dress, or the Sunday dinner, or some other 
household care. In passing through the streets a 
hundred worldly thoughts throng upon the mind, 
each insisting upon being borne into the place of 
worship. In fact, the writer has actually seen in the 
church in Concord, Massachusetts, where Emerson 
used to preach, men and women bearing their Sun- 
day newspapers and mail into the sanctuary, there 
to peruse them during the forepart of the service. 
The first opening hymn should be an antidote to the 
irrelevant, irreverent, worldly atmosphere that often 
enshrouds the spirit of the churchgoer. Worship 
should usually be the theme of this hymn. Further- 
more, the social sense of Christian fellowship and 
unity in worship should be awakened by the first 
hymn. Such h5mins as "All people that on earth do 
dwell" (16), "Come, ye that love the Lord" (22), 
"Now thank we all our God" (30), and "Ye servants 
of God, your Master proclaim" (11) tend to express 
and arouse this idea. 

The second hymn should usually be in the nature 
of a preparation for the thought of the sermon. It 
should be intense rather than exciting, quiet rather 
than animating. In a peculiar sense it tills the 
ground, preparing it for the seed of the Word. If 
ministers could realize how greatly the attention of 
the congregation varies on successive Sabbaths as a 
result of the second hymn, it would be regarded as an 
integral part of the sermon itself. 



HOW TO USE THE HYMNAL 251 

However important may be the two preceding 
h)mins, the great opportunity of the hour of worship 
is the closing hymn. By an appropriate hymn at 
the close the message of the preacher can often be 
burned deep into the hearts and memories of the 
people; by an inappropriate hymn some of the 
elements of the message may be dissipated or con- 
fused. The closing hymn crowns and completes 
that which has been uttered before, and therefore 
makes it a more permanent impression. This can 
sometimes be strengthened by a reference to the 
closing hymn, or a quotation of some word or phrase 
from the hymn toward the end of the sermon. While 
such a device can be overworked, when judiciously 
employed it can be made very effective. 

These general principles for the selection of hymns 
may apply to both morning and evening hymns. A 
difference in general character between morning and 
evening hymns will be more marked in those churches 
which observe a greater difference in the nature of 
the two services. The morning service is generally 
recognized as better adapted to more profound 
thought both in sermon and hymn. The Sunday 
evening service is a problem in most churches, and 
it is being met by making the worship attractive in 
a hundred different legitimate ways. The vesper 
hour is sympathetic to the tender emotions, and 
songs of heaven and our gentle hymns of rest in the 
Lord often make more beautiful the evensong of 
worship. Hymn services, such as are suggested in 
the end of this book, are often used to make the 



262 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

programme of devotions more attractive, and, under 
wise and devout leadership, more helpful to many. 

Not only the choice of hymns but also the choice 
of verses in any given hynm is important. One 
must needs exercise caution in omitting verses 
from hymns to be sung. Each hymn in the Hymnal 
was prepared for the purpose of being sung through- 
out. Therefore there is but one hymn in the body 
of our h3mins with as many as nine verses, four with 
eight verses, and fifteen with seven verses; and 
most of these are short verses. In spite of this, in 
some churches it is the exception rather than the 
rule to hear a whole hymn sung through all its 
verses. 

Perhaps this word of caution might sometimes be 

applied to Hjminal Commissions. Our hymn (4) 

"The God of Abraham praise" has been made out 

of three other h5mms in the old Hymnal (originally 

one h5mm, as written by Thomas Olivers). To 

accomplish this, verses have been omitted, but with 

strange effect. The last two lines of verse four 

runs thus: 

And trees of life forever grow, 
With mercy crowned. 

The following verse begins: 

Before the great Three-One 

They all exulting stand, 
And tell the wonders he hath done 

Through all their land. 

Poor Olivers would have been horrified to see such a 
hiatus, making the pronoun "they" refer to "trees," 



HOW TO USE THE HYMNAL 253 

instead of "his own/' "his saints in light/' as would 
be clearly seen were the omitted verses in evidence. 

The most deplorable instance of faulty omission 
in editing the H3Timal is to be found in "Glorious 
things of thee are spoken'' (210), where the editors 
have repeated the first four lines at the end, instead 
of the four lines that Newton wrote, rounding out 
the real meaning of the hymn so beautifully : 

He who gives us daily manna, 

He who listens to our cry. 
Let him raise the glad hosanna 

Rising to tliis throne on high. 

Greater pitfalls, however, are dug by the careless 
omission of verses printed in the Hymnal. Leaders 
of prayer meetings, and often of formal church serv- 
ices, are apt to annoimce a hymn, and as if there 
were danger of monotony in singing too much of the 
same hymn they add: "We'll sing the first, second, 
and last stanzas," or some such glib formula for 
skipping, regardless of the sense or nonsense thereby 
produced. 

If the reader will sing "the first and last verses" of 
such hymns as Nos. 137, 143, 165, or several others 
with gaps in the logic, he will appreciate some of the 
thoughtless effect produced by omitting essential 
verses. The third verse of hynm 79 is this: 

But when we view thy strange design 

To save rebellious worms, 
Where vengeance and compassion join 

In their divinest forms; 

And yet a "first-three-verses" leader is Hkely to 
leave his congregation impending in midair upon 



254 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

this uncompleted thought, unless he reads over the 
hymn, and discovers that the third verse is impos- 
sible without the fourth. A similar catastrophe 
would occur if hymn 115 were ended with the fifth 
verse, or 257 with the third. A pastor once gave 
out the first and last verses of ^'In the cross of Christ 
I glory," and upon singing it was amazed to find 
the last verse exactly like the first, much to the 
congregation's amusement. 

In order to develop the thoughts of the awfulness, 
the tenderness, and the worshipfulness of God, all 
so essential to the success of H, Kirke White's hymn, 
"The Lord our God is clothed with might," what 
verse of the hynm could be omitted? or what verse 
would you omit from 113 without slighting angels, 
shepherds, sages, saints, or sinners? Not long ago 
at a missionary meeting we heard 'Trom Green- 
land's icy mountains" ended with the second verse: 

In vain with lavish kindness 

The gifts of God are strown; 
The heathen in his blindness 

Bows down to wood and stone. 

To those who were closely following the thought of 
the hymn the effect was most depressing. It was 
Hke ending a joyful symphony with a dirge move- 
ment. Hymn 183 yields the same pessimistic effect 
without the prayer of the 'ast verse. The fourth 
verse of "A mighty fortress" cannot follow any 
other verse but the third, because "That word," 
beginning the fourth verse, refers to "One little 
word" of the third verse. Thus in the practical use 



HOW TO USE THE HYMNAL 255 

of the HjTtmal if a verse or two must be omitted, 
it should always be done with care. How much 
better it is to sing all the verses ! 

It is wise for the minister to confer occasionally 
with the choirmaster or organist in the choice of 
hymns, especially if the form r be not a musician; 
for in many churches and by many pastors our 
richest musical gems are entirely overlooked, be- 
cause they are new or unfamiliar. After the hjnims 
are selected many pastors find it profitable to meet 
with the choir in rehearsing the hynms, where the 
delicacy of that overdelicate organization permits of 
his presence (and the value of a choir that resents 
diplomatic direction by the pastor is highly 
questionable). 

The ultimate object of frequent conference be- 
tween pastor, choirmaster, and choir should be to 
raise constantly the spiritual efficiency of the hymn- 
singing and other music of worship. This process 
should aim to elevate the taste of the congregation 
and to familiarize them with a wealth of good h3Tiins 
and tunes now unknown to them. This can be done, 
not all at once, but gradually, like most other edu- 
cational methods that are worth while. Learning 
new tunes can be made very interesting or very 
dull. One must be temperate in this, but constantly 
progressive. In the matter of new tunes some 
churches actually display laziness; others, in their 
zeal for novelty, rarely repose in the restful strains 
of the good, old tunes. A happy medium between 
the two produces the best results. A new tune 



256 MTJSIC AND HYMNODY 

should be chosen with care, and, once learned, 
should be frequently repeated at different services 
until fixed and familiar. It is the new tunes, and 
not the new hymns, that pastors fear to choose; 
and many a good hymn is not available because the 
pastor is afraid to learn the tune. The musical 
ignorance of some congregations to-day is as great 
as the literary ignorance of some of Wesley's con- 
gregations, to whom the hymns must needs be 
''lined out" in the ancient fashion. But that did 
not deter Wesley from giving his congregations 
spiritual truth in noble poetic form. And as for the 
tunes he used, some of them were much more diffi- 
cult than any that may be found in the present 
Methodist Hymnal. None of our hymn tunes are 
too difficult for the average congregation to learn 
with the proper leadership and a little patience and 
persistence. 

One problem every minister is obliged to face, and 
that is the use of the gospel hymns. In some churches 
there is a constant temptation to use them almost 
exclusively, ''because everyone knows them." Gos- 
pel hymns are often effective in bringing men to 
their senses, in driving home conviction, in pointing 
the way to the cross; and many a man can testify 
from his own experience to the helpfulness of the 
gospel hymn. But for men who are growing in 
mind and soul under the developing influence of 
Christian experience they yield only a weak spiritual 
pabulum. Their nourishing, enriching power is too 
meager and unsatisfying for a steady diet. 



HOW TO USE THE HYMNAL 257 

Furthermore, the constant use of h5niins, weak in 
thought and expression, tends to thoughtless singing, 
or the bad habit too prevalent among congregations 
of singing one thing while thinking of something 
else. The presence of a few select gospel hymns in 
the Hymnal may argue the adaptability of the book 
to prayer meeting services and Sunday schools, but 
does not indicate that these songs are best fitted for 
the Sabbath services of the sanctuary. 

That the Hymnal is suitable for Sunday schools 
and prayer meetings has been demonstrated in 
several churches where it is so used both in the city 
and the country districts. Some churches regularly 
devote a part of every midweek service to the sing- 
ing of new hymns, often prefaced by explanatory 
remarks by the leader of the meeting. This widens 
the hymnological range of the congregation, at the 
same time adding a novel interest to the meeting. 
The chief argument for the use of the Hymnal in 
the Sunday school is that it teaches the children to 
memorize the truly great hymns of the Church. 
This better prepares them for the higher services of 
the Church, and — what is of inestimable value — fixes 
in their memories the doctrinal teachings and essen- 
tial truths of our religion, so that in most cases they 
cannot be forgotten. How many Christian men and 
women have been helped in sorrow, strengthened in 
times of doubt, or led to repentance and faith through 
remembering the lines of some hymn learned in the 
Sunday school! Contrast with this the prevailing 
custom of using through every Sunday of the year 



258 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

a group of weak, sentimental songs to be discarded 
as soon as the binding of the books wears out! 
Then one can understand the criticism of Dr. 
J. Wilhams Butcher/ Secretary of the British 
Wesleyan Sunday School Union, when he observed 
that one of the two striking weaknesses of the 
American Sabbath school lies in its weak hymns 
and poor tunes. 

One time-honored custom among Methodists is 
falling into disuse — the reading of the hymn before 
singing. Even though it may have had its origin 
in the ancient method of ^^lining out" the hymn to 
congregations that had no hymnals, nevertheless it 
has had the effect of concentrating the thought of 
the singers upon the meaning of the words. Indeed, 
there are well-authenticated instances on record of 
conversions as a direct result of the eloquent reading 
of a hymn by a pastor before singing. The art of 
making this a helpful spiritual exercise is being 
neglected. And this may be partly due to our sense 
of hurry, the lack of time, the necessity of making 
the service comfortably brief. But in omitting this 
we are neglecting one of the most practical spiritual 
uses of the Hymnal. On this subject the biography 
of Calvin Sears Harrington, D.D., by his wife, con- 
tains the observation: *'He wondered and grieved at 
the modern fashion of merely naming the hymn for 
the Sabbath service; he thought so much effect was 
produced by the careful reading of those words of 

iCf. Article "The Sunday School in America and Great Britain: 
A Contrast and an Impressioo," by the Rev. J. Williams Butcher, in the 
Sunday School Journal, New York, March, 1909. 



HOW TO USE THE HYMNAL 259 

doctrine, of worship, of praise, of holy devotion. It 
was to him a means of grace that he wished all to 
enjoy." 

Many of the richest resom-ces of the Methodist 
Hymnal are left imtouched by the pastor who 
confines his use of the book to the six hymns in the 
formal services of the Sabbath. The human mind 
takes pleasure in classifications; and by employing 
groups of hymns bearing upon some given subject 
or related to each other in origin or form, a hun- 
dred bright, interesting, helpful services can be 
arranged for Sunday evenings or prayer meetings, 
that would familiarize the congregation with our 
hynmology and accustom them to singing hymns 
with greater attention to their meaning. A few of 
the many possible services with the Hymnal we 
suggest in subsequent pages in the hope that they 
may lead pastors and people to a freer use of the 
Hymnal. 

A Hymn-Quoting Service 

Some of the most successful midweek prayer 
meetings have taken as their theme, ''My Favorite 
Hymn, and Why." Using the Methodist Hymnal 
in prayer meeting would be an innovation in some 
churches, but it is worth while for a service of this 
kind. After singing several of the old, old favorites, 
and after a season of prayer, the pastor may speak 
of the power of hymns over the souls of men to 
draw them nearer to the Saviour. Then, after more 
singing, the meeting can be profitably thrown open 



260 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

tor any to speak upon the question proposed. Usually 
this is such a popular subject that the speakers 
must be limited to short testimonies. For hymns 
to be used in a service of this kind it is well to choose 
only the old favorites. William T. Stead, in his 
"Hymns that Have Helped/' tells of a popular vote 
conducted by one of the religious journals of Eng- 
land, The Sunday at Home, on the hundred English 
hymns that are most esteemed. Those receiving 
the highest number of votes were: 1. Rock of Ages 
(3,215 votes). 2. Abide with me. 3. Jesus, Lover 
of my soul. 4. Just as I am (these three receiving 
about 3,000 votes each). The next highest were: 
5. How sweet the name of Jesus sounds! 6. My 
God, my Father, while I stray. 7. Nearer, my God, 
to thee. 8. Sun of my soul. 9. I heard the voice of 
Jesus say. 10. Art thou weary, art thou languid? 

Sometimes after a ringing testimony concerning 
some well-known hymn, it is well to start the singing 
of the hymn (with or without the instrument). 

A Hymn-Memory Contest 

In Sunday schools, or Epworth Leagues, or some- 
times even in the church at large, it is helpful as 
a stimulus to memorizing the h5nnns to hold a 
hymn-memory contest. It should be announced at 
least a month before; better still, three months 
before if the interest can be sustained. A list of 
fifty hymns should be published on a bulletin, or 
printed slips of paper, from which as many h)nnns 
are to be learned as possible. When the contest 



HOW TO USE THE HYMNAL 261 

is held judges may be appointed. Each hymn 
perfectly recited should count one hundred points, 
and for each word misquoted or omitted in the 
recital of a hymn five points should be deducted 
from the one hundred possible points for that hymn. 
No hymn in which more than five words are omitted 
or misquoted should be counted at all. Thus seventy- 
five points is the lowest count permissible for any 
one hymn. The total number of points of each 
contestant should be added, and the one having 
the highest score wins the contest. 

Bishop Warren's little book, 'Tifty-two Memory 
Hymns,'' would be an aid to each contestant and 
judge; and as only two of his memory hymns are 
not in the Methodist Hymnal, namely "0 the horn- 
when this material" and "There is an eye that 
never sleeps," his book contains exactly fifty hymns 
from the Methodist H5manal. This should make the 
ideal list of fifty in a memory contest. Their num- 
bers in the Methodist Hymnal are as follows: 198, 
396, 407, 23, 415, 66, 646, 109, 637, 461, 137, 236, 
446, 682, 186, 612, 375, 537, 533, 148, 107, 159, 373, 
702, 535, 518, 449, 540, 68, 363, 350, 153, 188, 214, 
189, 502, 385, 139, 348, 207, 233, 136, 99, 416, 98, 
92, 636, 128, 141, 392. 

Sermon Series Illustrated with Hymns 

An almost unlimited number of sermon-series 
could be devised, illustrating doctrines as taught 
by the hymns, or using hynrns as illustrations of 
the subject-matter. 



262 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

Cheist in Song 
Rev. J. Lyon Caughey once successfully used a series of 
sermons on 'The Characteristics of Christ Expressed in 
Song." On five successive Sunday nights his themes were: 
(1) The Best Friend, (2) The Living Lord, (3) The Perfect 
Saviour, (4) The Light of Life, (5) The Hope of the Worid. 
Each theme was elaborately illustrated by the singing of 
hymns from the Hymnal. 

Church History 
An interesting series of sermons might be preached on 
"Church History," illustrating it by hjrnms from different 
theological periods. 

1. The Pre-Reformation Church. 

Greek Hymns: 616,672. 

Latin Hymns: 166, 533, 612, 614, 599, 125, 483. 

2. The Reformation. 

Hymns by Luther: 641 and 101. 

Later German Chorales (which are Lutheran in form 
and spirit, if not in date) : 30, 476, 151, 93. 

3. The Moravians and their Influence on Methodism. 

Count Zinzendorf and others: 148, 359, 221, 225, 435, 
273, 252, 333, 345, 305. 

4. The Wesleyan Revival. 

Charles Wesley: 463, 1, 466, 111, 511, 181, 262, 256, 
355, 310, 301. 

5. Modern Evangelism. 

272, 284, 329, 325, 334, 544, 548, 551, 383. 

Evenings with the Great German Composers 
Upon these occasions the choir and organist may render 
larger selections, vocal and instrumental, from the composer 
under discussion. 

1. Ludwig von Beethoven (1770-1827). 

Use Hymns: 160, 518, 423, 204, 131, 88 (second 
tune), 40 (in the order named) . 

2. Francis Joseph Haydn (1732-1809). 
Johann C. W. Adameus Mozart (1756-91). 

Haydn's tunes: 106, 105, 84, 210. 
Mozart's tunes: 80, 458, 378. 

3. Felix J. L. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (180^-47). 

Use Hymns: 43, 116, 379, 151, 273, 111. 

4. Georg Frederic Handel (1685-1759). 

Use Hymns: 298, 182, 586, 115, 370, 107 (second tune). 



HOW TO USE THE HYMNAL 263 

5. Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826). 
Robert Alexre Schumann (1810-56). 
Weber's times: 524, 267, 545 (second tune). 
Schumann's melodies: 127, 435. 

Evenings with the English Hymnists 

1. Charles Wesley. Hymns: 1 (his conversion). 643 (his 

preaching), 463, 511, 181, 262, 355, 746 (his death- 
see pages 69 and 228). 

2. John Wesley. Hymns: 45, 624— Translations, 148, 221, 

225, 305, 333, 345. 

3. Isaac Watts. Hymns: 5. 71, 107, 141, 146, 393, 577, 604. 

4. William Cowper. Hymns: 37, 96, 198, 211, 291, 454, 

492 496. 

5. Philip Doddridge. Hymns: 100, 108, 230, 233, 288, 312, 

396, 429. 

6. John Newton. Hymns: 69, 92, 137, 210,309, 507, 538, 574. 

7. James Montgomery. Hymns: 97, 113, 188, 397, 431, 

448 (second tune), 497, 646. 

A Musical Programme 
For an entertainment, Epworth League meeting, 
or prayer meeting, consisting of larger musical com- 
positions from which hymn-tunes have been taken 
(see pages 196, 197, 198, 199). 

1. Piano Solo — Andante movement. Sonata, Opus 14, No. 

2 — Beethoven. Hjonn 131. 

2. Tenor Solo — Recitative from Oratorio "Messiah," "Com- 

fort ye"— Handel. Hymn 107. 

3. Piano Solo — Song without Words, Book 2, No. 3, 

"Consolation" — Mendelssohn. Hymn 43. 

4. Contralto Solo — Oratorio "Messiah," "I know that my 

Redeemer liveth" — Handel. Hymn 370. 

5. Piano Solo — Song without Words, Book 3, No. 6, 

"Duet" — Mendelssohn. Hymn 379. 
a Tenor Solo— Oratorio "Elijah," "If with all your 
hearts" — Mendelssohn. Hymn 116. 

7. Piano Solo — "Last Hope" — Gottschalk. Hymn 562. 

8. Piano Solo— " Nachtstuck," Opus 23, No. 4— 

Schumann. Hymn 42. 

Sometimes the hymn is sung after each program number. 



264 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

Special Hymnal Services with Responsive 
Readings 

The following services may be used in the regular 
Sunday evening worship of the church, in the prayer 
meetings, Epworth League devotional meetings, etc. 
Indeed, many of them have already been used by 
the author and others in such meetings. Under 
each number or subdivision a passage of Scripture 
is given. These may be read responsively by the 
leader and congregation, if Bibles have been liberally 
distributed; or they may be read by different indi- 
viduals, to whom the leader has previously assigned 
these passages. 

Under each subdivision a h5niin has been men- 
tioned that is peculiarly appropriate to the subject. 
Many have marveled that our Hymnal touches upon 
so many different themes. Some of these hjonn-tunes 
are old, some are new. The pastor or leader should 
not hesitate to sing the new tunes, as these would 
broaden the melodic range of his congregation. 

At the end of each service is added some topic 
for general discussion which may be used effectively 
in a prayer meeting. The best results can be secured 
if the leader assigns this subject beforehand to 
several people, who shall come prepared to speak 
upon it. In the case of the Old Testament or New 
Testament heroes it adds to the interest to assign 
a different character to each speaker, according to 
his own selection. 

Note. — Some of these services with Responsive Readings, published 
separately by the Methodist Book Concern, may be secured upon 
application 



HOW TO USE THE HYMNAL 265 

1. The Birth of Christ 

1. Prophecy. Isa. 9. 2-7. 

Hjmin 116, "Come, thou long-expected Jesus." 

2. The Birth-Place. Luke 2. 1-7. 

Hymn 121, "O little town of Bethlehem." 

3. The Night. Isa. 8. 22 and 9. 1-2. 

Hymn 123, "Silent night! Holy night!" 

4. The Mother. Luke 1. 46-55 (The Magnificat). 

Hymn 112 (second tune, verses 1, 2), "There's a song 
in the air!" 

5. The Shepherds. Luke 2. 8-12. 

Hymn 115 (verses 1, 4), "While shepherds watched 
their flocks." 

6. The Angels. Luke 2. 13-19. 

Hymn 113, "Angels from the realms of glojy." 

7. The Gloria. Read the Gloria in Excelsis, Hjrmn No. 742. 

Hymn 120, "Long years ago o'er Bethlehem's hills." 

8. The Wise Men. Matt. 2. 1-11. 

Hymn 114 (verses 1, 3, 4), "Brightest and best of 
the sons." 

9. The Mission of Joy and Love. John 3. 13-21. 

Hymn 107, "Joy to the worid! the Lord is come." 

10. The Appeal to Our Hearts. John 15. 7-16. 

Hymn 122, "Thou didst leave thy throne and thy 
kingly cro\\-n." 

Topic for Discussion: "What does Christmas Mean to You?" 



266 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

2. The Life of Christ 

Opening Hymn, 138, "Christ's life our code, his cross our 
creed." 

1. His Birth. Luke 2. 8-20. 

Hymn 112 (second tune), "There's a song in the air!" 

2. His Childhood. Luke 2. 40-52. 

Hymn 678 (5th and 6th verses), "O Thou, whose infant 
feet were found." 

3. His Preaching. Luke 4. 15-22. 

Hymn 290, "How sweetly flowed the gospel's sound!" 

4. His Miracles. Matt. 4. 23-25. 

Hynm 695, "When Jesus dwelt in mortal clay." 

5. His Transfiguration. Matt. 17. 1-8. 

Hymn 129, "The chosen three on mountain height." 

6. His Love for Little Children. Mark 10. 13-16. 

Hymn 230, "See Israel's gentle Shepherd stand." 

7. Palm Sunday. Mark 11. 1-10. 

Hymn 150, "Ride on, ride on in majesty!" 

8. The Last Supper. Mark 14. 12-26. 

Hymn 235, "Jesus spreads His banner o'er us." 

9. His Passion. Mark 14. 32-42. 

Hymn 147, "'Tis midnight; and on Olive's brow." 

10. The Cross. Mark 15. 22-39. 

Hymn 142, "Behold the Sa\aour of mankind." 

11. His Resurrection. Mark 16. 1-14. 

Hymn 156, "Christ the Lord is risen to-day." 

12. His Ascension. Acts 1. 1-11. 

Hymn 161, "Rise, glorious Conqueror, rise." 

Closing Hymn, 180, "All hail the power of Jesus' name!" 

Topic for Discussion: "Is the Historic Christ a Reahty 
to You?" 



HOW TO USE THE HYMNAL 267 

3. The Parables of Christ 

Opening H3rmn, 290, "How sweetly flowed the gospel's 
sound!" 

1. The SoUd Rock. Matt. 7. 24-27. 

Hymn 330, "My hope is built on nothing less." 

2. The Sower and His Seed. Matt. 13. 1-12. 

Hymn 221, "High on his everlasting throne." 

3. Who is My Neighbor? Luke 10. 25-37. 

Hymn 690, "Who is thy neighbor?" 

4. The Feast. Luke 14. 15-24. 

Hymn 256, "Come, sinners, to the gospel feast." 

5. The Prodigal Son. Luke 15. 11-32. 

Hymn 255, "Return, O wanderer, return." 

6. Lazarus, the Poor Man. Luke 16. 1^31. 

Hymn 628 (3d verse), "While here, a stranger far from 
home." 

7. The Lost Sheep. Luke 15. 1-7. 

H)mQn 300, "I was a wandering sheep." 

8. The Wise and Foolish Virgins. Matt. 25. 1-13. 

Hymn 429, "Ye servants of the Lord" (1st two verses). 

9. The Talents. Matt. 25. 14-30. 

Hynm 597, "Servant of God, well done!" (1st verse 
only). 

Closing Hymn, 127 (1st and last verses), "How beauteous 
were the marks divine." 

Topic for Discussion: "What is Your Favorite Parable?" 



268 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

4. The Miracles of Christ 

1. The Marriage Feast at Cana. John 2. 1-11. 

Hymn 667 (1st verse only), "Since Jesus freely did 
appear." 

2. Healing the Sick. Matt. 8. 14-17. 

Hymn 54 (1st, 2d, and 6th verses), "At even ere the 
sun was set." 

3. Stilling of the Tempest. Mark 4. 35-41. 

Hymn 485, "Fierce raged the tempest o'er the deep." 

4. Healed by the Hem of His Garment. Mark 5. 24-34. 

Hymn 696 (3d and 4th verses), "And Christ was still 
the healing friend." 

5. Feeding the Multitude. Matt. 14. 14-21. 

Hymn 325, "Break thou the bread of life." 

6. Walking on the Sea. Matt. 14. 24-33. 

Hymn 61 (3d verse), "Thou, who in darkness walking 
didst appear." 

7. The Raising of Lazarus. John 11. 32-45. 

Hymn 134 (1st and 5th verses), "When gathering 
clouds around I see." 

8. The Miracle of the Resurrection. John 20. 1-9. 

Hymn 157, "The Lord is risen indeed." 

9. The Ascension. Luke 24. 50-53. 

Hymn 170, "He is gone; a cloud of light." 

10. Salvation— The Greatest Miracle. Luke 24. 39-43. 
Hymn 289, "Of Him who did salvation bring." 

Closing Hymn, 512 (1st two verses), "To God in every want.** 

"In shouts, or silent awe, adore 
His miracles of grace." 

Topic for Discussion : "What is the Most Impressive Miracle?" 



HOW TO USE THE HYMNAL 269 

5. The Beatitudes 

Opening Hymn, 502, "Prayer is appointed to convey 

The blessings God designs to give." 
Prayer. 

Responsive Reading: Matt. 5. 1-12. 

(After the responsive reading, let the congregation recite 
in unison each beatitude before singing the hymn; also 
the leader may make some introductory conmients upon 
each beatitude in turn.) 

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom 

of heaven. 
Hjrmn 472, "I bow my forehead in the dust." 

2. Blessed are they that mourn : for they shall be comforted. 

Hymn 526, "Come, ye disconsolate." 

3. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. 

Hymn 685, "Jesus, meek and gentle." 

4. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after right- 

eousness : for they shall be filled. 
Hymn 233, "The King of heaven his table spreads." 

5. Blessed are the merciful : for they shall obtain mercy. 

Hymn 378 (beginning with 3d verse), "That I thy 
mercy may proclaim." 

6. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. 

Hymn 360, "Blest are the pure in heart." 

7. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the 

children of God. 
Hymn 707, "God, the All-Terrible!" 

8. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' 

sake : for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 
Hymn 432 (beginning with 3d verse), "Who suffer 
with our Master here." 

9. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute 

you, and shall say all manner of evil against you 
falsely for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: 
for great is your reward in heaven : for so persecuted 
they the prophets which were before you. 
Hymn 415, "Faith of our fathers!" 

Topic for Discussion: "Your Favorite Beatitude." 



270 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

6. The Lord's Prayer 

Opening Hymn, 497, "Prayer is the soul's sincere desire." 
Prayer (followed by the Lord's Prayer in concert). 

(This service may be used in the same way as the service 
on "The Beatitudes" with comments by the leader upon 
each phrase, or each topic may be assigned to a different 
person for three minutes.) 

1. Our Father who art in heaven. 

Hymn 79 (4 verses), "Father, how wide thy glory 
shines!" 

2. Hallowed be thy name. 

Hjonn 180, "All hail the power of Jesus' name!" 

3. Thy kingdom come. 

Hymn 208, "I love thy kingdom, Lord." 

4. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 

Hymn 524, "My Jesus, as thou wilt." 

5. Give us this day our daily bread. 

Hynm 325, "Break thou the bread of life." 

6. Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that tres- 

pass against us. 
Hymn 98, "There's a wideness in God's mercy." 

7. Lead us not into temptation. 

HjmMi 431, "In the hour of trial." 

8. Deliver us from evil. 

H)man 577 (1st two verses), "O God, our help in ages 

past." 

9. Thine is the kingdom. 

Hymn 527, "The kingdom that I seek is thine." 

10. The power. 

Hymn 2, "Come, thou almighty King." 

11. The glory. 

Hymn 49, "Glory to thee, my God." 

Topic for Discussion: "The Power of Prayer." 



HOW TO USE THE HYMNAL 2T1 

7. The Name of Christ 

1. Revelation of His Name. Gen. 32. 24-30. 

Hymn 511 (verses 1, 3, 6), "Come, O thou Traveler 
unknown." 

2. Salvation through His Name. Acts 4. 8-12. 

Hymn 1 (verses 3, 4), "Jesus! the name that charms 
our fears!" 

3. Strength against Temptation. Prov. 18. 10; Acts 3. 

13-16. 
Hynm 363 (verses 4, 5), "0, utter but the name of 
God." 

4. A Foundation for Character. Col. 3. 14-17. 

Hynm 330 (verses 1, 3), "My hope is built on nothing 
less." 

5. The Name Victorious. 2 Chron. 14. 7-12. 

Hymn 11 (verses 1, 2), "Ye servants of God." 

6. The Supremacy of His Name. Psa. 113. 1-5; Eph. 1. 21. 

Hymn 222 (verses 1, 2), "Jesus, the name high over all." 

7. A Name to Trust. Psa. 9. 7-10. 

Hymn 441 (verses 1, 2), "I'm not ashamed to o\^ti 
my Lord." 

8. A Name to Love. Psa. 72. 17-19. 

Hymn 137, "How sweet the name of Jesus sounds!" 

9. A Precious Name. 1 Pet. 2. 1-7. 

Hymn 508, "Take the name of Jesus with you." 

Prayer. 

Closing Hymn, 354 (verses 1, 5), "O for a heart to praise 
my God." 

Topic for Discussion: "Which Name Applied to Christ is 
Dearest to You?" 



272 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

8. The Resurrection 

1. Palm Sunday. Matt. 21. 1-11. 

Hymn 150, "Ride on, ride on, in majesty." 

2. Gethsemane. Matt. 26. 36-46. 

Hjrmn 147, "'Tis midnight; and on Olives' brow." 

3. The Crucifixion. Mark 15. 24-39. 

Hymn 146, "Alas! and did my Saviour bleed?" 

4. The Return from the Cross. Matt. 27. 55-66. 

Hymn 152 (verses 1, 4), "O come and mourn with 
me awhile." 

5. The Dawn of Easter Day. John 20. 1-13. 

Hymn 166, "Welcome, happy morning!" 

6. Christ Forsakes the Tomb. John 20. 14-17. 

Hymn 165 (verses 3, 4, 5), "The rising God forsakes 
the tomb." 

7. His Friends Learn of the Resurrection. John 20. 18-29. 

Hymn 159, "Lift your glad voices." 

8. The Significance of Easter. 1 Cor. 15. 12-22. 

Hymn 156, "Christ the Lord is risen to-day." 

9. A Spiritual Release for Israel. Acts 3. 18-26. 

Hymn 163, "Come, ye faithful, raise the strain." 

10. Job's Faith in Immortality. Job 19. 25-27. 

Hymn 168, "I know that my Redeemer lives." 

11. The Coronation of Christ. Rev. 5. 8-13. 

Hymn 169, "Look, ye saints, the sight is glorious." 

Topic for Discussion: "The Comfort and Hope Begotten by 
the Resurrection of Christ." 



HOW TO USE THE HYMNAL 273 

9. Old Testament Heroes 

1. The Saints of Old. Heb. 11. 13-16. 

Hymn 187, "O for that flame of living fire!" 

2. Abraham— the Friend of God. Gen. 22. 15-18. 

Hymn 4, "The God of Abraham praise" (1st, 2d, and 
6th verses). 

3. The Faith of Job. Job 2. 1-3. 

Hynm 370, "I know that my Redeemer lives." 

4. The Victory of Jacob. Gen. 32. 24r-30. 

Hymn 511, "Come, O thou traveler miknown." 

5. The Vision of Moses. Deut. 34. 1-5. 

Hjrmn 604, "There is a land of pure delight." 

6. The Obedience of Samuel. 1 Sam. 3. 1-19. 

Hymn 674, "Hushed was the evening hymn." 

7. The Harp of David. 1 Sam. 16. 19-23. 

Hymn 71, "Sweet is the work, my God, my King" 
(2 verses). 

8. The Twenty-third Psalm. Psa. 23 (in concert). 

Hymn 136, "The King of love my Shepherd is." 

Closing Hymn, 12, "O Thou to whom, in ancient time. 

The lyre of Hebrew bards was strung." 

Topic for Discussion: "Your Favorite Old Testament Hero." 



274 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

10. New Testament Heroes 

Opening Hymn, Thanks for the Saints. 

Hymn 14 (second tune, verses 1, 2, 3, 5), "To thee, 
Eternal Soul/' 

The Apostles. 
Peter, James, and John. Matt. 17. 1-8. 

Hymn 129, "The chosen three on mountain height." 
A Tempest on the Sea. Mark 4. 36-41. 

Hymn 485, "Fierce raged the tempest." 
The Last Supper. Matt. 26. 19-30. 

Hymn 233, "The King of heaven his table spreads." 
The Disciples at Emmaus. Luke 24. 13-21 and 28-32. 

Hymn 50, "Abide with me!" 

John, the Disciple, Whom Jesus Loved. John 13. 23-26. 
Hymn 368 (verses 1, 2, 5), "O Love divine, how sweet 
thou art!" 

Peter, the Apostle. 

Penitence. Luke 22. 54-62. 

Hymn 491, "Jesus, let thy pitying eye." 
In Prison. Acts 5. 17-23. 

Hymn 310 (verses 4, 5), "Long my imprisoned spirit 
lay." 

Stephen, the Martyr. Acts 7. 54-60. 

Hymn 416, "The Son of God goes forth to war." 

Paul, the Saint. 

His Inspiration. Phil. 4. 10-20. 
Hymn 187 (verses 1, 2), "O for that flame of living 
fire!" 
His Preparation. Eph. 6. 10-17. 

Hymn 397, "Behold! the Christian warrior stand." 
His Victory. 1 Tim. 6. 11-16. 

Hymn 391 (verses 1, 4), "I the good fight have 
fought." 

Closing Hymn, 430, "For all the Saints." 

Topic for Discussion : "Your Favorite New Testament Hero." 



HOW TO USE THE HYMNAL 275 

11. The Journey of Israel 

1. The Escape from Egypt. Exod. 14. 22-30. 

Hymn 163 (verse 1), ^'Come, ye faithful, raise the 
strain." 

2. Heavenly Manna. Exod. 16. 11-18. 

Hymn 438 (verses 1,2), "Day by day the manna fell." 

3. In the Wilderness: a Prayer for Guidance. Deut. 9. 

25-29. 
H)rmn 91, "Guide me, O thou great Jehovah." 

4. The Cloud by Day: the Fire by Night. Exod. 13. 20-22. 

Hymn 95, "When Israel of the Lord beloved." 

5. The Voice of God. Exod. 20. 1-18. 

Hymn 211 (verses 1, 2), "Hear what God the 
Lord hath spoken." 

6. Onward through the Wilderness. Deut. 1. 5-11. 

Hymn 567, "Through the night of doubt and sorrow." 

7. Moses' Vision from the Mountain. Deut. 34. 1-6. 

Hynm 604, "There is a land of pure delight." 

8. Marching Song. Josh. 1. 10-16. 

Hymn 384 (1st and last verses), "Forward be our 
watchword." 

9. At the River. Josh. 3. 7-13. 

Hymn 617 (1st, 2d, and last verses), "On Jordan's 
stormy banks I stand." 

10. The Battle. Josh. 6. 12-21. 

Hymn 448, "God is my strong salvation." 

11. Possession of the Promised Land. Josh. 18. 3-10. 

Hymn 403, "Defend us, Lord." (Tune "Joshua.") 

12. Victory through Divine Power. Psa. 48. 1-14. 

Hymn 212, "Zion stands with hills surrounded." 

Topic for Discussion : "What was the most Significant Event 
between Egypt and the Jordan?" 



276 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

12. The Prophets and Prophecies 

1. The Music of the Prophets. Psa. 95. 1-6. 

Hymn 12 (verses 1, 3, 5), "O Thou, to whom in ancient 
time." 

2. The Inspiration of Prophecy. 1 Pet. 1. 3-12. 

Hymn 181 (verses 1, 2), "Come, Holy Ghost, our 
hearts inspire." 

3. The Pathway of the Prophets. Heb. 11. 32-40. 

Hymn 306 (verses 1, 2), "Jesus, my all, to heaven 
is gone." 

4. Prophecy Concerning the Coming of Christ. Isa. 9. 1-7. 

Hymn 108 (verses 1, 5), "Hark, the glad sound! the 

Saviour comes. 
The Saviour promised 
long." 

5. Prophecy Concerning the Cross. Isa. 53. 3-10. 

Hymn 149 (verses 2, 3), " 'Tis finished! all that heaven 

foretold 
By prophets in the days of 
old." 

6. The Golden Age. Psa. 72. 3-18. 

Hynm 110 (verse 5), "For lo! the days are hastening on 
By prophet-bards foretold." 

7. The Testimony of the Prophets. Acts 2. 25-36. 

Hymn 293, "Art thou weary, art thou languid?" 
(Verses 1, 2, 6, 7.) 

8. Thanks for Prophecy. (Prayer.) 

Hymn 14 (verses 1, 2, 4), "To thee, Eternal Soul, be 

praise! 
Who from of old to our 

own days 
Through souls of saints 

and prophets, Lord, 
Hast sent thy light, thy 

love, thy word." 

Topic for Discussion : "Who was the Greatest Prophet?" 



HOW TO USE THE HYMNAL 277 

13. Missions and Messengers 
Opening Hymn, 111, ''Hark! the herald angels sing!" 

1. The CaU. Acts 16. 6-10. 

Hymn 655, 'Trom Greenland's icy mountains." 

2. The Command. Mark 16. 14-19. 

Hymn 634, "Tell it out among the heathen." 

3. Prayer for Divine Guidance. Acts 4. 24-33. 

Hymn 220, "Jesus, the truth and power divine. 

Send forth these messengers of thine." 

4. Response by the Messengers. Acts 10. 34-43. 

Hymn 219, "Lord of the Uving harvest." 

5. Parting Charge to the Messengers. John 20. 19-22. 

Hymn 640, "Go, ye messengers of God!" 

6. The Field, the Inspiration to Work. Psa. 2. 1-10. 

Hymn 654 (verses 2, 3, 4), "Behold how many thou- 
sands." 

7. The Invitation. Acts 2. 29-39. 

Hymn 259 (second tune), "Come, ye sinners." 

8. The Penitence of the Nations. Acts 2. 40-43. 

Hymn 653, "The morning light is breaking." 

9. The Fire of Salvation. Acts 2. 1-4. 

Hymn 643, "See, how great a flame aspires!" 

10. The Signs of the Times. Isa. 21. 6-12. 

Hymn 636, "Watchman, tell us of the night." 

11. The Final Conquest Completed. Rev. 22. 1-6. 

Hymn 631, "Jesus shall reign where'er the sun." 

12. The Banner of Victory. (Recessional.) 

H3rmn 639 (verses 1, 3, 4, 6), "Fling out the banner!" 

Topic for Discussion: "Our Duty toward Missions." 



278 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

14. The Mountains 

Opening Hymn, 649 (verses 2, 3), "See how beauteous on 
the mountains." 

1. HoREB — ^The Mountain of Covenant. Lev. 20. 22-26. 

Hymn 403, "Defend us. Lord, from every ill." 

2. PisGAH — ^The Mountain of Vision. Deut. 34. 1-6. 

Hjrmn 516 ( verses 1, 3), "Sweet hour of prayer." 

3. Hattin — ^The Moimtain of the Beatitudes. Matt. 5. 

1-16. 
H5Tiin 360, "Blest are the pure in heart." 

4. Hermon — ^The Mountain of Transfiguration. Mark 9. 

2-10. 
Hymn 131, "O Master, it is good to be 

High on the mountain here with thee." 

5. Olives — ^The Mountain of Anguish. Luke 22. 39-48. 

Hymn 147, " 'Tis midnight; and on Olive's brow." 

6. Calvary — ^The Mountain of Crucifixion. Luke 23. 

32-47. 
Hjman 152, "O come and mourn with me awhile." 

7. Olivet — ^The Mountain of Ascension. Luke 24. 45-53. 

Hymn 162, "Hail the day that sees him rise." 

Closing H3nim, 423 (verses 5, 6), "O Master, from the 
mountain side." 

Topic for Discussion: "The Mountain-tops of Christian Ex- 
perience." 



HOW TO USE THE HYMNAL 279 

15. The Sea 

1. Prayer for Those at Sea. Psa. 107. 21-31. 

Hymn 59 (verses 1, 3), "Now the day is over." 

2. The Sinful Soul on Life's Ocean. Isa. 57. 15-21. 

Hymn 246 (verses 1, 2), "Sinners, the voice of 
God regard." 

3. Christ in the Storm. Matt. 8. 18-27. 

Hymn 485, "Fierce raged the tempest o'er the deep." 

4. Jesus Walking on the Waves. Matt. 14. 22-33. 

Hymn 61 (verses 1, 3), "The day is gently sinking to a 
close." 

5. A Voice Divine Across the Waves. John 21. 3-9, 15-19. 

Hymn 545, "Jesus calls us o'er the tumult." 

6. "Pilot Me!" Psa. 48. 7-14. 

Hymn 482, "Jesus, Saviour, pilot me." 

7. Safe to the Land! Isa. 33. 17-21; Ezek. 27. 29. 

Hymn 451, "My bark is wafted to the strand." 

8. The Ocean of God's Love. Psa. 107. 1-8. 

Hymn 98, "There's a wideness in God's mercy 
Like the wideness of the sea." 

Topic for Discussion: "The Most Significant Sea Episode in 
the Bible." 



280 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

16. Children's Day Service 

Processional: Hymn 383, "Onward, Christian soldiers." 

1. The Children of Israel in the Desert. Exod. 40. 32-38. 

Hymn 681, ''Brightly gleams our banner." 

2. The Child in the Temple. Sam. 3. 3-18. 

Hymn 674, "Hushed was the evening hymn." 

3. The Christ Child. Luke 2. 40-52. 

Hymn 678 (verses 5 and 6, or the whole hymn), "0 
Thou whose infant feet were found." 

4. The Child in Jesus' Arms. Mark 10. 13-16. 

Hymn 682, "I think when I read that sweet story 
of old." 

5. The Child on Palm Sunday. Mark 11. 1-11. 

Hymn 684, "There was a time, when children sang." 

6. The Child in the Early Christian Church. Eph. 6. 1-3, 

14-17. 

Hymn 672, "Shepherd of tender youth." 

(The oldest Christian hymn extant, by Clement, 
A. D. 170-220.) 

7. The Offerings of the Child. (Collection for Christian 

Education.) 

Hymn 673, "Beauteous are the flowers of earth." 

8. Prayer. 

Hymn 677, "Saviour, like a shepherd lead us." 

9. Recessional. 

Hymn 680, "There's a Friend for little children." 



HOW TO USE THE HYMNAL 281 

17. Soldiers op the Cross 

1. The Call for Volunteers. Matt. 16. 24-27. 

Hymn 416, "The Son of God goes forth to war." 

2. The Response. Isa. 6. 5-12. 

Hymn 393 (verses 1, 4, 5), "Am I a soldier of the 
cross?" 

3. Swearing Allegiance. 2 Chron. 15. 10-15. 

Hymn 413 (verses 1, 2, 3), "Stand, soldier of the 



4. The Armor. Eph. 6. 11-18. 

Hymn 397 (verses 1, 2, 3), "Behold, the Christian 
warrior stands!" 

5. The Call to Arms. Judg. 6. 13-16. 

Hymn 386, "Stand up! stand up for Jesus!" 

6. Prayer to God for Defense. 2 Kings 19. 14-19. 

Hymn 403 (verses 1, 2), "Defend us. Lord, from 
every ill." 

7. The Captain. Heb. 2. 5-10. 

Hymn 408, "Lead on! O King eternal!" 

8. The Watchword. Judg. 12. 4-6 (Shibboleth). 

Hymn 420 (verses 1, 2), " True-hearted, whole- 
hearted." 

9. Forward into Battle. Judg. 8. 16-22. 

Hymn 383 (verses 1, 2, 3), "Onward, Christian 
soldiers." 

10. The Fight. 1 Tim. 6. 11-16. 

Hymn 409 (verses 1, 4), "Fight the good fight." 

11. The Victory. 1 Cor. 15. 52-58. 

Hymn 418 (verses 1, 2), "We march, we march to 
victory!" 



282 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

18. The Soul's Progress 

1. The Depths of Sin. Rom. 7. 18-24. 

Hymn 242 (1st verse), 'Tlunged in a gulf of dark 
despair." 

2. Warning. Matt. 3. 7-12. 

Hymn 247, "Sinners, tm*n; why will ye die?" 

3. Judgment and Retribution. Rom. 2. 3-9. 

Hymn 603, "The day of wrath, that dreadful day." 

4. Conviction. Acts 16. 25-31. 

Hymn 267, "Depth of mercy! can there be?" 

5. Invitation. Matt. 11. 25-30. 

Hymn 259, "Come, ye sinners, poor and needy." 

6. Acceptance. Matt. 9. 1-8. 

Hymn 272, "Just as I am." 

7. Faith. Heb. 11. 1-10. 

Hymn 301, "Arise, my soul, arise." 

8. Witness of the Spirit. Acts 2. 1-4. 

Hymn 304, "I heard the voice of Jesus say" (1st 
two verses). 

9. Aspiration. Psa. 42. 1-5. 

Hymn 317, "More love, O Christ, to thee." 

10. Consecration. Isa. 6. 5-12. 

Hymn 348, "Take my life, and let it be consecrated." 

11. Temptation. Matt. 4. 1-11. 

Hymn 493, "My soul, be on thy guard." 

12. Activity. James 2. 14-26. 

Hymn 397, "Behold the Christian warrior." 

13. Heaven. Rev. 22. 1-5. 

Hymn 623, "Rise, my soul." 



APPENDIX 

A Plan for Hymnal-Study Classes, Using the Hymnal and 
This Volume as Textbooks 

Bible-study and mission-study classes are becoming im- 
portant factors in arousing an intelligent interest in the teach- 
ings and work of the church. But why should we not also 
develop Hymnal-Study Classes to kindle a more intelligent 
interest in our worship? The very subject of the study should 
prove fascinating to young and old, and with wise leadership 
such classes could be made a success in almost every church 
in Methodism. 

For the guidance of leaders of Hymnal-Study Classes the 
following outline has been prepared, more for purposes of 
suggestion than for prescribing a hard-and-fast course of study. 
The scheme may be varied according to the abilities and in- 
terests of the class and its leader. In the topics for preparation, 
especial encouragement should be given to the student to 
select illustrations for each point first-hand from the Hymnal. 
Frequently, if possible, the class should sing the hymns — 
especially after they have been analyzed in respect to the par- 
ticular theme of that week's lesson. This should famih'arize 
the class with many new hymns, and also with the best methods 
of studying other new hymns yet unlearned. 

Nor need the study be confined to Methodists. An inter- 
denominational class may find this plan of study of value, if 
only the first lesson be modified or omitted. Should such 
classes prove to be successful, the writer would be interested 
to hear of the progress of the class. If, as is intended, this 
study awakens a deeper interest in the hymns and their music, 
the effort of organizing and conducting the class would be well 
worth while. 



Lesson I, Hymnal History 
Assignment for Reading: Part I, Chapters 1, 2, and 3. 
Topics for Special Preparation: 

1. The Eighteenth Century Hymnals. 

2. The Official Methodist Episcopal Hymnals (North and 

South). 

3. The Making of the Present Hymnal. 

283 



284 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

4. The Hymnal and Other Factors, hastening the Union of 

the two Methodist Episcopal Churches, North and 
South. 

5. A Critique of Hymnals, Now Used in Other Denomina- 

tions. (Examine the hynmals in other churches in 
your town.) 



Lesson II. Spiritual Conditions Producing Htmns 
Assignment for Reading: Part II, Chapter 4, pp. 59-79. 
Topics for Special Preparation: 

1. Old Testament Hymns, of Moses, Hannah, David. 

2. New Testament Hymns, of Mary, the Gloria in Excelsis, 

Revelation. 

3. Sorrow-Inspired Hymns. 

4. Joy- Inspired Hymns. 

5. Hymns Celebrating Conversion from Sin. 

Lesson III. The Power op Hymns in Human Life 
Assignment for Reading: Chapter 4, pp. 79-94. 
Topics for Special Preparation: 

1. New Hymn Stories (let the members of the Class ask 

several Christian people for their experiences with 
hymns). 

2. The Effectiveness of Hymns in the Salvation of Souls. 

3. Hymns at the Portal of Death. 

4. War Songs. 

5. The Different Ways in which Hymns are Used. 

Lesson IV. The Schools op Hymn- Writers in English 
Assignment for Reading: Chapter 5, pp. 95-112. 
Topics for Special Preparation: 

1. Famous Literary Folk who were Hymn-Writers. 

2. The Eighteenth Century Hymn- Writers. 

3. The Oxford Movement and Hymnody and the Wesleyan 

Movement. 

4. Clergymen as Hymn- Writers. 

5. Hymn-Writing in America. 



APPENDIX 285 

Lesson V. Hymns in Foreign Languages 
Assignment for Reading: Chapter 5, pp. 112-128. 
Topics for Special Preparation: 

1. The Greek Hymnists. 

2. Hymns from the Latin Chm-ch. 

3. Wesley's Translations from the German. 

4. Hynms from the Hebrew Scriptures. 

5. Missionary Hymns. 

Lesson VI. Theological Teaching in the Hymns 

Assignment for Reading: Chapter 6. 
Topics for Special Preparation: 

1. The Hymns as Teachers of Theology. 

2. What Hymns Can the Roman Catholics Use from Our 

Hymnal? 

3. \\Tiat Hymns Can the Unitarians Use from Our Hynmal? 

4. Which of Our Hymns are Common to All Christians? 

5. Which of Our Hymns are Peculiar to Methodism? 

Lesson VII. The Literary Beauties of the Hymns 

Assignment for Reading: Chapter 7. 
Topics for Special Preparation: 

1. Emotions Expressed in the Hymns (with illustrations). 

2. Subjective and Objective Hymns. 

3. The Imagery in the Hymns. 

4. Literary Blemishes in the Hymns of Other Hymnals. 

5. The Rhythm of the Hymns. 

Lesson VIII. The Contribution of Each Nation to the 
Tunes of the Hymnal 

Assignment for Reading : Chapter 8. 
Topics for Special Preparation : 

1. Music as a Universal Language. 

2. Hymn-Tune Composers from the Continent of Europe. 

3. Hymn-Tune Composers from Great Britain. 

4. American Hymn-Tune Composers. 



286 MUSIC AND HYMNODY 

5. Larger Compositions from which Hymn-Tunes are De- 
rived. (Under this heading it would add interest if 
some musician would render some of the larger sources 
of hynm-tunes.) See page 263. 

Lesson IX. Stories op the Tunes and Their Titles 
Assignment for Reading: Chapter 9 and a Review of Chapter 8. 
Topics for Special Preparation: 

1. How Times are Composed (see text). 

2. What are the Best Tunes? 

3. Different Reasons for Choosing Tune-Titles. 

4. National and Patriotic Tunes in the Hymnal. 

5. Secular Songs that have Made Hymn-Tunes. 

Lesson X. Interpretation of the Hymns Through the 

Music 
Assignment for Reading: Chapter 10. 
Topics for Special Preparation: 

1. Should Hymn-Tunes be Emotional, and Why? 

2. What Hymn-Tunes Best Describe the Emotions of Words? 

3. Examples of Emotional Incongruity between Hymns and 

Words. 

4. Should Music be Employed to Describe Events or Episodes. 

5. A Study of Hymns 250-275, and their Relative Emotional 

Powers. 

Lesson XI. Formal Elements of Music 
Assignment for Reading: Chapter 11. 
Topics for Special Preparation: 

1. The Value of Tunes with a Chorus. 

2. What is the Purpose of Form in Music? 

3. Which Keys are Best Suited to Hymn-Tunes? 

4. What Elements of Form are Illustrated in the Hymn- 

Tunes? 

5. Find Illustrations of Poor Forms. 

Lesson XII. Review and Practical Application of the 

Course 
Assignment for Reading: Chapter 12. 
General Review. 



INDEX 



Lines in quotation are first lines of hymns, 
titles of tunes. 



Lines in italics are 



"A mighty fortress is our God," 

122, 254 (see "Ein' Feste 

Burg") 
"Abide with me," 68, 104, 184, 

193 194 226 
Adams, Mra. Sarah F., 110, 111, 

133 
Addison, Joseph, 77, 97, 156, 226 
Ahle, Johann Rudolf, 171 
"Alasl and did my Saviour," 

87, 88, 187 
Aldrich, Henry, 176 
Alexander, Mrs. C. F., Ill, 125 
Alexander, J. W., 120, 122 
Alford, Dean Henry, 75, 104 
"All glory, laud," 118 
"All hail! the power," 89, 101 
All Saints, 176 
Alsace, 197 
Alverson, J. B., 27 
"Am I a soldier of the," 151 
America, 48, 176, 200, 236, 240 
Amsterdam, 177 
"Ancient of days," 108 
"And are we yet alive?" 82 
"And can it be that I," 61 
"Another six days' work," 102 
Ardioch, 172, 196 
"Arise, my soul, arise," 86 
Arlington, 176, 199 
Armenia, 188 

Arne, Thomas A., 176, 199 
"Art thou weary, art thou," 

117, 127, 159 
"As pants the hart for," 114 
Asbury, Bishop, 19, 20, 21 
Ashford, Mrs. E. L., 195, 208 
"Asleep in Jesus," 76, 223 
Auber, Miss Harriet, 110 
Austria, 187 



"Author of faith," 127 

Avison, 178 

"Awake, our souls! away," 151 

Babcock, Rev. Dr. M. D., 109 
Baker, Rev. Sir H. W., 82, 105, 

106, 183, 206 
Barbauld, Mrs. Anna L., 110 
Baring-Gould, Rev. S., 105, 113 
Bamby, Sir J., 181, 190, 207, 

211, 214, 222, 241 
Barthel^mon, F. H., 174 
Bartholdij, 197 
Bartlett, Dr. Maro L., 195 
Bathurst, Rev. William H., 104 
Baume, John W., 196, 211 
Baxter, Richard, 67, 97 
Beddome, Rev. Benjamin, 102 
Beethoven, 173, 197, 200, 228 
"Before Jehovah's awful 

throne," 89 
"Behold! the Christian warrior," 

99 
"Behold the Saviour of man- 
kind," 85, 100 
Belleville, 193 
Bentley, 185 

Bernard of Clairvaux, 120, 122 
Bernard of Cluny, 119 
Bickersteth, Rev. Dr. Edward 

H., 105, 148, 158 
Black, J. M., 36 
Blacklock, Rev. Thomas, 70 
"Blessed assurance," 70, 90, 205 
"Blest are the pure," 103 
"Blest be the dear uniting," 90 
"Blest be the tie," 74, 102 
Boardman, 189 
Boehm, Anthony W., 122 
Bonar, Dr. Horatius, 75, 104 



287 



288 



INDEX 



Borthwick, Jane, 124 

Bortnianski, D. S., 186 

Bourignon, Antoinette, 113 

Bowring, Sir John, 105, 133, 157 

Bradbury, 190 

Bradbury, William B., 190 

Bradford, 197 

Bremen,^ 171, 202, 243 

Breviaries, 118 

Bridge, Sir Frederick, 51, 185 

Bridges, Matthew, 104 

Brooks, Bishop Phillips, 78, 

109 
Brown, Mrs. Phoebe H. 73 
Browning, Mrs. Elizabeth B., 106 
Bryant, William Cullen, 75, 107 
Burgmtiller, Frederick, 199 

Caledonia, 92, 178 

Camp, John Spencer, 196, 202 

Campbell, Rev. Dr. James, 37 

Campbell, Miss Jane, 125 

Canonbury, 198 

Carey, Henry, 176, 200, 236 

Cary, 192 

Cary, Miss Phcebe, 69 

Caswell, E. M,, 118, 120, 121, 125 

Cennick, John, 101 

Chetham, John, 176 

Christ Church, 185 

"Christ for the world," 76 

"Christ is made the sure," 119 

"Christian! dost thou see," 117, 

220, 221. 
Christmas, 196 
Claudius, Matthias, 125 
Cobern, Rev. Dr. C. M., 32, 204, 

210 
Codner, Mrs. Elizabeth, 64 
Coke, Bishop Thomas, 17, 19, 22 
Coles, Rev. George, 188 
"Come, Holy Ghost, in," 119 
"Come, Holy Spirit, heavenly 

Dove," 86 
"Come, let us anew our," 87 
"Come, let us join our," 87, 116 
"Come, O my soul I" 70 
"Come, O thou all victorious 

Lord," 79 
"Come, O thou Traveler," 160 



•'Come, said Jesus' sacred," 110 
"Come, Saviour, Jesus," 113 
"Come, sound his praise," 72 
"Come, thou almighty," 93 
"Come, thou Fount," 64, 102 
"Come, ye disconsolate," 106 
"Come, ye faithful," 117 
"Come, ye sinners," 60, 102 
"Come, ye that love the Lord," 

91, 250 
"Commit thou all thy," 124 
Communion, 187 
Conkey, Ithamar, 189 
Converse, Charles C, 191 
Cooke, Rev. Dr. R. J., 32 
Cooper, Ezekiel, 19, 20 
Copeland, Rev. Dr. Benjamin, 

109, 208, 209 
Coronation, 187, 202 
Cowper, William, 74, 97, 98, 99, 

113, 116 
Creamer, David, 27 
Creation, 198 

"Creator, Spirit! by whose," 119 
Crimea, 194, 214 
Croft, WiUiam, 176, 201, 212 
Crosby, Fanny (Mrs. Van Al- 

styne), 43, 66, 70, 88, 90, 111. 
Cross, Dr. Moses S., 196 
Cross of Jesus, 198, 243, 244 
"Crown him with many," 104 
Criiger, Johann, 171, 201 
Crusader's Hymn, 170, 201 

D'Urhan, Cr^tien, 174 

"Day of wrath, O dreadful," 119 

"Dear Lord and Father," 107 

Decius, 171, 200, 203 

Decius, Nicolas, 122, 171, 201 

Deems, Rev. Dr. Charles F., 108 

Dennis, 174, 227 

Denny, Sir Edward, 105 

Dessler, Wolfgang C, 123 

Deventer, 187, 213 

Dexter, Rev. Dr. H.M., 109, 117 

Diademata, 182, 207 

Dilley, David, 27 

Dirge, 197 

Doane, Bishop George W., 108 

Doane, Bishop W. C, 108 



INDEX 



289 



Doane, William Howard, 191 
Doddridge, Rev. Dr. Philip, 97, 

98, 116 
Doxology, 96, 189 
Dryden, John, 119 
Du Bose, Rev. Dr. H. M., 37 
Duane Street, 188 
Duffield, Dr. George, Jr., 87, 89, 

93, 108 
Duke Street, 177 
Dundee, 178, 242 
Dunham, Henry M., 193 
Dunstan, 190, 241 
D wight, Timothy, 106, 115 
Dykes, Rev. J. B., 181, 193, 207, 

211,212,215, 220,221 

Edson, Lewis, 187 

Eighmey, 194 

Ein' Feste Burg, 91, 122, 171, 

200, 205, 238, 243 
Elizabethtown, 189 
EUers, 182 

Ellerton, Rev. John, 75, 105 
Elliott, Miss Charlotte, 110 
Elvey, Sir George Job, 182, 212 
Emerson, Luther O., 189 
Emmons, 199 
Even me, 190 
Evening Hymn, 175 
Evening Prayer, 191 
Every Day and Hour, 191 
Ewing, 183, 184, 236, 242 

Faber, Rev. Dr. F. W., 103, 132 
Fabricius, Jacob, 92, 125 
"Fairest Lord Jesus," 125 
"Faith is a living power," 125 
"Faith of our fathers," 104, 132 
"Father, whate'er of," 66 
Fawcett, Rev. Dr. John, 74, 102 
"Fear not, O little," 92, 125 
Federal Street, 188 
Ferguson, 189 
Festal Song, 192 
Fillmore, 187 
"Fierce raged the tempest," 218, 

219 
Fisk, 210 
F lemming, 173 



Flemming, Friedrich F., 174 
"Fling out the banner," 108 
Floy, Rev. James, 26, 27 
"Flung to the heedless," 123 
"For all the saints," 105 
"For thee, O dear, dear coun- 
try," 119 
"Forward be our watchword," 

75, 104, 151 
Francis, Rev. Benjamin, 102 
Fredrick, 189 

"From Greenland's icy moun- 
tains," 75, 103, 159, 254 

Gauntlett, Henry John, 180, 204 
Genevan Psalter, 173, 174 
Gerhardt, Paul, 122, 123, 124 
Gethsemane, 182, 206 
Giardini, Felice de, 186 
Gilder, 173 
Gilder, Richard Watson, 53, SO, 

108, 133, 208 
Gilead, 174 

Gill, Rev. Dr. B., 194, 213 
Gilmore, Rev. J. H., 76, 109 
"Give to the winds thy," 124 
Gladden, Rev. Dr. W., 109 
Gloria in Excelsis, 121, 122 
Gloria Patri, 182 
"Glorious things of thee are," 

99, 253 
"Glory be to the Father," 80 
"God be with you," 90, 109 
"God calling yet! shall I," 124 
"Golden harps are sounding, " 

83 
Goodrich, Charles G., 194, 211 
Goodsell, Bishop Daniel A., 8, 

36, 39, 138, 186 
Gottschalk, Louis M., 198 
Gouda, 187, 213 
Gould, Nathaniel D., 188 
Gounod, Charles Francois, 174, 

185, 198 
Grant, Sir Robert, 102, 103, 106 

156 
Greatorex, Henry W., 182 
Green Hill, 184 
Greenville, 174, 198 
Gregory, Pope, 169, 170 



290 



INDEX 



Gniber, Franz, 201 

"Guide me, O thou great Jeho- 
vah," 101 

Guyon, Madame J. M. B. de 
la M., 72, 113 

Habakkuk, 180 

•'Hail to the Lord's anointed," 

74 
Hamilton, Jefferson, 24 
Hammond, Rev. WiUiam, 101 
Handel, George F., 122, 172, 173 

196 
Hankey, Katherine, 66 
Hanover, 176 

"Hark, the voice of Jesus call- 
ing," 151 
Harrington, Calvin S., 38, 40, 

210, 258 
Harrington, Claude W., 212 
Harrington, Karl P., 8, 40, 192, 

193, 213, 214 
Harrfe, Thoro, 194, 214 
Hart, Rev. Joseph, 60, 102 
Hassler, H. L., 171, 199, 201 
"Hasten, Lord, the glorious 

time," 110 
Hastings, Thomas, 106, 187, 188 
Havergal, Frances Ridley, 63, 

67, 83, 106, 111 
Hay, John, 107 
Haydn Francis Joseph, 173, 

187, 198, 226 
Hayes, 197 

"He leadeth me," 76, 109, 190 
Heber, 189 

Heber, Bishop R.,75, 103, 159 
Hedge, Rev. Dr. Frederick H., 

15S 
Herbert, George, 97 
Herbert, Petrus, 125 
"Here, O my Lord, I see," 75 
Herold, Louis Joseph F., 174 
Hesperus, 183 
Hews, George, 188 
"High on his everlasting, " 1 23 
Hitt, Daniel, 20, 21 
Hodges, Edward, 180 
Holden, Oliver, 106, 187, 202 
Holland, Dr. J. G., 47, 107, 156 



Holley, 188 

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 107 

Holmfirth, 193 

"Holy Ghost, dispel our," 124 

Holy Hill, 194 

Hopkins, Edward John, 182 

Hoss, Bishop E. E., 36 

How, Bishop William W., 105 

"How are thy servants blest, 

O Lord," 77, 97 
"How happy is the pilgrim's 

lot," 101 
"How sad our state," 87 
Humphrey, Pelham, 176 
Huntington, Rev. Dr. D. C, 35 
Hursley, 184, 214 
Hymn of Joy, 197 

'I bow my forehead," 107 

'I heard the voice of Jesus 

say," 104, 207 
'I know no life divided," 125 
'I lay my sins on Jesus," 104 
'I love thy kingdom," 115 
'I'll praise my Maker while 

I've breath," 81 
'I'm but a stranger here," 67 
'I'm going home to die no 

more," 93 
'I need thee every hour," 191 
'I would not live alway," 189 
'I thank thee, uncreated Sun," 

123 
'I thirst, thou wounded Lamb 

of God," 124 
'In age and feebleness extreme," 

69, 185 
'In the cross of Christ I glor>'," 

105, 133, 157. 163, 189, 254 
'In the hour of trial," 99 
Ingalls, Jeremiah, 187 
Ingemann, Bernhardt S., 113 
Innocent III., Pope, 120 
Intercession New, 197 
"Into the woods my Master 

went," 108 
"Into thy gracious hands I fall," 

123 
"It came upon the midnight 
clear," 107 



INDEX 



291 



"It may not be our lot to wield," 

107 
Italian Hymn, 186, 239 

Jacobi, John C, 124 
Jackson, Rev. H. G., 36 
Jenks, Stephen, 187 
"Jerusalem the golden," 119, 

184, 207, 236 
"Jesus can make a dying-bed," 

79 
"Jesus, Lover of my soul," 47, 

222, 236 
"Jesus shall reign where'er the 

sun," 90 
"Jesus, the name high over all," 

73 
"Jesus, the very thought of 

thee," 120, 230 
"Jesus, thou Joy of loving 

hearts," 120 
"Jesus, thy blood and righteous- 
ness," 63, 123, 224 
"Jesus, thy boundless love," 124 
"Jesus, where'er thy people 

meet," 74 
JeweU, 198, 227 
"Joy to the world! the Lord," 

136, 231 
Jude, William H., 212 
Julian, John, 15, 108 
"Just as I am, without one plea," 

82, 110, 190 

Keble, Rev. John, 103, 214 
Kelley, Rev. Thomas, 104 
Ken, Bishop Thomas, 78, 96, 

97 
Kerlin, Rev. Dr. Robert T., 38 
Kingsley, George, 189, 211 
Kirbye, George, 176 
Knapp, Mrs. Joseph F., 191 
Knapp, William, 176 

Lanier, Sidney, 107 
"Late, late, so late," 106 
Lath bury, Miss M. A., 112 
Lawes, Henry, 176 
"Lead, kindly Light," 64-66, 
103, 160, 193 



"Leave God to order all," 124, 

223 
Lenox, 187 

"Let heaven and earth," 86 
Linwood, 186 

"Lo! He comes with clouds de- 
scending," 101 
"Lo! on a narrow neck of land," 

77 
Longfellow, Rev. Samuel, 108 
Longstreet, Augustus B., 24 
"Lord, I hear of showers," 64 
"Lord, it belongs not," 67, 97 
"Lord of all being, throned 

afar," 107 
"Lord, while for all mankind," 

74 
Lowry, Rev. Robert, 191 
Luther, Martin, 9, 11, 91, 106, 

122, 123, 130, 131, 153, 170, 

171, 200 
Lutkin, Peter C, 8, 40, 192, 

193, 208, 209, 213 
Lux Benigna, 180, 193 
Lwoff, Alexis F., 186, 201 
Lyte, Rev. Henry Francis, 68, 

104, 184 

Mackay, Margaret, 76 

"Make haste, O man," 128 

Malan, Rev. A. H. C., 106 

Mann, Arthur H., 185, 216 

Manoah, 186 

Margaret, 184, 185 

Marlow, 176 

Marsh, Simeon Butler, 188 

Martyn, 188, 236 

Marylebone, 185 

Mason, Lowell, 170, 181, 187, 

188, 189 
Massie, Richard, 125 
Matheson, Rev. Dr. George, 70, 

71, 184 
"May the grace of Christ," 116 
Medley, Rev. Samuel, 102 
Mehul, Etienne Henri, 174 
Meineke, Charles, 182 
Melcombe, 199 
Mendebras, 200, 206 
Mendelssohn, 197 



292 



INDEX 



Mendelssohn, 171, 173, 197, 200, 

201, 202, 208 
Merrick, F., 27 
Messenger, John A., 123 
Messiah, 174 
Middletown, 204, 213 
Miller, 178, 202 
Milman, Dean H. H., 104 
Milton, John, 97, 115, 148 
Mims, Dr. Edwin, 37 
Monk, William Henry, 184 
Monsell, Rev. J. S. B., 105 
Montgomery, James, 68, 74, 97, 

99, 115, 206, 207 
Moore, Rev. Dr. J. M., 37, 210 
"More love to thee, O Christ," 

111, 191 
Morning Hymn, 174, 206 
Mornington, 177 
Momington, Earl of, 178 
Mozart, 173 
Munich, 171, 201, 243 
"My country, 'tis of thee," 93, 

108 
"My faith looks up to thee," 66, 

108 
"My God, I love thee, not be- 
cause," 121, 149 
"My God, my Father, while I 

stray," 110 
"My hope is built on nothing 

less," 134 
"My hope, my all, my Saviour," 

195 
"My Jesus, as thou wilt," 124 
"My Lord, how full of sweet 

content," 72, 113 
"My soul, be on thy guard," 225 
"My soul before thee prostrate," 

123 

Naegeli, Johann Georg, 174 

Naomi, 174 

National Hymn^ 192 

Nativity, 185 

Nealc, Dr. J. M., 117, 118. 119. 

"Near the cross was Mary 

weeping," 120 
"Nearer, my God, to thee," 82, 

110, 133, 215 



Neumark, Georg, 106, 125, 

171, 202 
"New every morning is the 

love," 103 
Newbold, 189 
Newman, Cardinal John Henry, 

65, 66, 103 
Newton, Rev. John, 97, 98, 99, 

116, 130, 137 
Nitschmann, J. and Anna, 124 
North, Rev. Dr. Frank Mason, 

109 
"Now God be with us," 125 
"Now I have found the ground," 

123 
"Now thank we all our God," 

92 124 250 
NunDariket, 171, 201, 205 
Nunc Dimittis, 170 
Nuremberg, 171, 243 
Nutter, Rev. Dr. Charles S., 32 

"O come, all ye faithful," 120 

"O come, and mourn," 127 

"O day of rest and gladness," 
104, 206, 226 

"O for a thousand tongues to 
sing," 62 

"O for that flame of living fire," 
104 

"O happy day," 98 

"O happy home where thou art," 
125 

"O Jesus, thou art standing," 
105 

"O little town of Bethlehem," 
78 

"O Lord, our fathers oft," 115 

"O Love divine, that," 107 

"O Love, that wilt not let me 
go," 71, 184 

"O Master, it is good to be," 78 

"O sacred Head, now wounded," 
122, 147 

"O thou God of my salvation," 
101 

"O thou, to whose all-search- 
ing," 123 

"O Thou, who driest the mourn- 
er's," 106 



INDEX 



293 



"O worship the King," 103 
"Of all the thoughts of God," 

106 
"Of Him, who did salvation 

bring," 122 
Old Hundred, 173, 199, 200, 206, 

242 
Oldberg, Ame, 173 
Oliver, Henry Kemble, 188 
Olivers, Rev. Thomas, 101, 113, 

252 
Ohnutz, 170 
Olney, 174, 185, 198 
"One more day's work for Je- 
sus," 191 
"One sweetly solemn thought," 

69, 165, 224 
"Onward, Christian soldiers!" 

105, 182, 212, 224, 225 
OrUmmUe, 188 

Paisello, Giovanni, 186 
Palmer, Rev. Dr. Ray, 66, 108, 

120 
Pass me not, 191 
Parker, Rev. Dr. F. S., 37, 210 
Parry, Sir Charles Hubert H., 

185, 186, 228 
Passwn Chorale, 171, 199, 201 
Patten, David, Jr., 27 
Peace, A. L., 184 
"Peace, perfect peace," 105, 227 
Perronet, Rev. Edward, 102 
Pleyel, Ignaz Joseph, 187, 198 
PleifeVs Hymn, 187, 198, 227 
Pond, Sylvester Billings, 188 
Pontius, William H., 194 
Portuguese Hymn, 202 
"Praise God, from whom," 96 
"Prayer is the soul's sincere," 99 
Precious name, 191 
Prentiss, Mrs. E. P., Ill 
Procter, Adelaide Ann, 111 
Purcell, Thomas, 176, 185 
Puritan, 193 

Quayle, Bishop W. A., 31 

Radiant Morn, 174, 206 
Rankin, Rev. Dr. J. E., 109 



Rathhun, 189 

Redhead, R., 182, 215, 239 

Redner, Lewis Henry, 192 

"Rescue the perishing," 66, 191 

Retreat, 188 

"Return, O wanderer," 147 

Rice, Mrs. Caroline Laura, 112 

Richter, Rev. Dr. Christian F., 

123 
"Ride on, ride on in majesty," 

104 
Rinkart, Martin, 124 
"Rise, glorious Conqueror," 104 
"Rise, my soul, and stretch thy 

wings," 101 
Ritter, Peter, 184 
Robinson, Rev. Robert, 64, 102 
"Rock of Ages," 82, 102, 127, 128 
Rodigast, Samuel, 125 
Rogers, Lebbeus Harding, 84 
Roosevelt, Theodore, 209 
Rossini, Gioachino A., 186 
Rothe, Johann A., 123 
Rotterdam, 187 
Rousseau, Jean Jacques, 174, 

198 
Russian Hymn, 186, 201 
Rutherford, 174, 211 

Si. Athanasius, 182 
St. Andrew of Crete, 117, 220 
St. Ann, 52, 176, 201 
St. George's, Windsor, 182 
St. John of Damascus, 117 
St. John's, Westminster, 180 
St. Leonard, 182 
St. Louis, 192 
St. Martin's, 177 
St. Peter, 171, 201, 203 
St. Petersburg, 186 
St. Stephen, 177 
St. Theodulph, 171 
St. Theodulph of Orleans, 118 
St. Theresa, 121 
St. Thomas, 187 
Samson, 197 
Sanctus, No. 2, 194 
Sankey, Ira D., 191 
"Saviour, again to thy dear," 
75, 105, 229 



294 



INDEX 



Scheffler, Johann A., 123 

Schmolck, B., 124 

Schumann, Robert, 173, 198 

Scott, Sir Walter, 105, 119, 155 

Scriven, Joseph, 71 

Seagrave, Rev. Robert, 101 

Sears, Dr. E. H., 107 

"See, how great a flame," 78, 156 

Serenity y 179 

"Servant of God, well done," 68 

Service, 195 

Sessions, 189 

Seymour, 198 

"Shall I, for fear of feeble man," 

123 
"Shall man, O God of light," 115 
Shaw, Leslie M., 30 
"Shepherd of tender youth," 116 
Shortle, 194 
Sicilian Mariners, 186 
"Silent night," 125, 156, 201 
Siloam, 199 
Simpson, 197 

Simpson, Matthew V., 33, 36 
"Since without Thee we do no 

good," 106 
Smart, Henry (Thomas), 181, 

207 
Smith, Bishop Charles W., 31 
Smith, Samuel Francis, 108 
Smith, Whiteford, 24 
Snyder, Dr. Henry N., 37 
"Softly now the light of day," 

108 
Something for Jesiis, 191 
"Soon may the last glad song," 

110 
Spagenburg, Augustus G., 123 
Spitta, Carl J. P., 125 
Spohr, 197 

Spohr, Louis, 173, 197 
Stainer, Sir John, 182, 198, 207 
"Stand up, stand up for Jesus," 

108 
Stanley, Dean Arthur P., 78, 

104,119 
Stebbins, George Coles, 191 
Steele, Anna, 66 
Stennett, Rev. Joseph, 102 
Stennett, Rev. Dr. Samuel, 102 



Stephen, the Sabaite, 117 
Stephanos, 183 
Sternhold and Hopkins, 114 
Stevenson, Rev. Dr. G. J., 83, 86 
Stewart, Sir Robert P., 178 
"Still, still with Thee," 111 
Stockton, Rev. J. H., 106, 191 
Stowe, Mrs. Harriet B., HI 
Stratton, Mrs. F. K., 112 
"Strong Son of God, immortal 

Love," 106 
Stryker, Rev. Dr. M. W. 109 
Stuart, Rev. Dr. C. M., 8, 32, 

39, 209, 230 
SuUivan, Sir Arthur, 52, 181, 

182, 212 
Summers, Thomas O., 23, 24, 25 
"Sun of my soul, thou Saviour," 

103, 184 
"Sunset and evening star," 106 
"Sweet hour of prayer," 70, 164, 

190, 205 

"Take my life and let it be," 63, 

126 
Tallis, Thomas, 174, 175 
Tappan, 189 

Tate and Brady, 114, 116 
Taylor, Rev. Thomas B., 67 
"Teach me, my God and King," 

97 
"Tell it out among the heathen," 

67, 191 
"Tell me the old, old story," 66 
Tennyson, Alfred, Lord, 106 
Tersteegen, Gerhard, 124 
Teschner, Melchior, 171 
Thatcher, 197 
"The church's one foundation," 

126 
"The day of resurrection," 117 
"The day of wrath," 106, 119 
"The God of Abraham praise," 

101, 113, 223, 252 
"The King of love my Shepherd," 

83, 127, 163 
The Lord Bless You and Keep 

You, 193 
"The Lord descended from 

above," 114 



INDEX 



295 



"The Lord will come and not 

be slow," 97 
"The morning light is breaking," 

108 
"The perfect world by Adam 

trod," 75 
The Solid Rock, 190 
"The spacious firmament," 97, 

226 
"There is a fountain filled," 80, 

99 
• 'There is a land of pure delight," 

77 
"There's a song in the air," 47, 

107 
■ 'There's a wideness in," 54, 104, 

192 
"They who seek the throne," 187 
"Thou art the Way," 108 
"Thou hidden love of God," 124 
"Thou, whose unmeasured tem- 
ple," 75 
Thring, Rev. Godfrey, 105, 208 
"Through the night of doubt," 

113 
Tillett, Rev. Dr. Wilbur Fisk, 

8, 37, 40 
"To Father, Son, and Holy 

Ghost," 114 
"To God on high be thanks," 

122 
"To thee. Eternal Soul, be 

praise," 133 
Tomer, William G., 191 
Toplady, 188 
Toplady, Rev. Augustus M., 

102, 124, 133 
Tourj^, Eben, 192 
Tourj^e, Lizzie S. (Mrs. Esta- 

brook), 192 
Tours, Berthold, 187, 213 
True-Hearted, W hole-Hearted, 191 
Truro, 177 
Turle, James, 180 

Upham, Rev. Dr. S. F., 31, 210 

Van Alstyne, Mrs. Francis J. 

(see "Fanny Crosby") 
Vigil, 186, 207 



Vokes, Mrs., 110 
Vox Dilecti, 207, 220 

Walford, William W., 70 
Wallace, William V., 178 
Walter, William Henry, 192 
Waratah, 196 
WaHng, 197 

Waring, Miss Anna Letitia, 111 
Warren, George W., 192 
Warren, Rev. Dr. William F., 

109, 131 
Washington, 194, 204, 214 
"Watchman, tell us," 159 
Wathall, Alfred G., 193 
Watts, Isaac, 16, 72, 76, 79, 81, 

87, 97,98, 115, 116, 129, 136, 

153 
"We may not climb the heav- 
enly," 107 
"We plow the fields and," 125 
Webb, 199 

Webb, George J., 199 
Webbe, Samuel, 174, 199 
Weber, Carl M. von, 173, 198 
Webster, Rev. Dr. Lorin, 195 
"Weep not for a brother," 54, 

147 
"Welcome, delightful morn," 

226, 232 
"Welcome, happy morning," 82 
V Welcome, sweet day of rest," 

86 
WeUesley, 192 
Wesley, Charles, 16, 47, 53, 61, 

62, 68, 69, 73, 77, 78, 79, 99, 
100, 115, 116, 131, 134, 135, 
136, 137, 153, 156, 160, 180, 
185, 206, 207, 222 

Wesley, John, 15, 17, 22, 53, 61, 

63, 81, 82, 85, 89, 99, 100, 102, 
113, 123, 124, 133, 135, 138, 
215, 236, 

Wesley, Rev. Samuel, 85, 100 
Wesley, Samuel Sebastian, 180, 

208 
West, Robert A., 27 
Westminster, 180 
"What a friend we have," 72, 

191 



296 



INDEX 



What though my flesh and 
heart," 82 

Whate'er my God ordains," 
125 

When all thy mercies, O my 
God," 97 

When gathering clouds," 127 
When I survey the wondrous," 
85, 98, 224 

When Israel, of the Lord be- 
loved," 105 

When marshaled on the night- 
ly," 60 

When morning gilds the skies," 
125 

While life prolongs its pre- 
cious," 115 

While shepherds watched 
their," 116 

While thee I seek, protect- 
ing," 72 
Whisner, Rev. Peter H., 35, 36 
White, Henry Kirke, 60, 254 
Whitehead, Rev. Dr. Paul, 37 
Whittier, John G., 107 
"Who are these arrayed in 

white," 68 
t*Why should the children of a 
King," 89 



Wightman, William M., 23, 24 
Williams, Aaron, 187 
Williams, Helen Maria, 72 
Williams, Rev. William, 101 
WiUis, Nathaniel P., 75, 107, 

158 
WiUis, Richard Storrs, 107 
Wilson, 197 
Winchester, Dr. Caleb T., 8, 

32, 41, 106, 109, 144, 213 
Winchester Old, 176, 242 
Winkler, John J., 123 
Winkworth, Catherine, 124 
Winton, Rev. George B., 36 
Wolcott, Dr. Samuel, 76 
Woodbury, Isaac Baker, 199 
Woodworth, 190, 231 
Woodland, 188 
Wordsworth, Rev. Christopher, 

104 
"Workman of God! O lose not 

heart," 151 
Wreford, Rev. John R., 75 

Xavier, Saint Francis, 149 

Zinzendorf, Count N. L., 62, 123, 

124 
Zion, 188 



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